The Eleven Doctors
by flying-chipmunk
Summary: Something is amiss in the universe - or perhaps even several of them. Eleven TARDISes have been pulled from their time streams for some indiscernible reason, complete with eleven Doctors and even more companions. But why would someone risk a paradox for them to be together? And perhaps more importantly, who?
1. Chapter 1 - Landings

Chapter 1 - Landings

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who, nor will I ever. But I can dream.

* * *

It's an easily accepted fact that sometime, somewhere, someone in the universe is having a crisis. Some of these crises are, in honesty, quite small and may result in burned toast or angry letters sent to newspaper editors. Occasionally burned toast can result in a larger catastrophe, but more often than not crises of universe-disturbing proportions are triggered by far more persistently unpleasant phenomena like supernovae or Dalek invasion forces.

A disproportionate amount of both kinds of crises tend to occur in the presence of a certain blue police box (causing the toast kind to be greatly preferred, but no less likely).

But despite the number of incarnations of the particularly troublesome Time Lord the TARDIS had housed, and consequently how many there were running amok throughout the universe at any given time, the Doctor had never once before been in what was best dubbed "simultaneous supernova-level crisis mode".

Which was why she knew that something was very, very wrong.

- 1 -

"I can't find my shoes," Ian Chesterton muttered, wandering into the TARDIS console room indeed lacking the aforementioned footwear. Clad only in grey socks, he wiggled his toes slightly, tapping them on the metallic floor.

"Hm?" the First Doctor asked, hardly looking up from the control panel, where he was analysing something that looked terribly important, but quite possibly wasn't.

"I said I can't find my shoes. Or my bedroom for that matter."

Susan gave a laugh from across the room. "She's probably hidden them!"

"She?"

"The TARDIS!"

"Right, right, of course," Ian said, looking confused.

"Can't you ask her to give them back?" Barbara added absentmindedly, entering the room herself. She had a stack of books in her hands, the top one open (and providing the current distraction).

"But why would the TARDIS want to hide my bedroom in the first place? I haven't made her angry, have I?"

"Nonsense, I'm sure she's just trying to get my attention," One said.

"_Your_ attention?" Ian asked, looking a bit perturbed as to why no one else was taking interest in his predicament and consequential shoeless state.

"Well she's not about to hide _my_ bedroom, hm?"

It occurred to Ian that he had not, in fact, noticed the Doctor going to sleep. Not often, at least. Another thing to get used to about this whole situation, he supposed.

"Well what does she want? I, for one, would like my shoes."

There was a sudden jolt as the console room seemed to leap upwards in the air for a moment, scattering books and people alike, then return to its normal position.

"Grandfather," Susan said cautiously as Ian lifted himself from the floor and Barbara regained her balance, "Grandfather, what if she's trying to warn us?"

"Warn us? What of?" Barbara asked.

One turned back to the console, looked at it for a moment, tapping his fingers in thought. He narrowed his eyes in concentration. "I'm not entirely sure, my dear, but there's one thing that comes to mind."

"What's that?"

"We appear to have landed somewhere."

- 2 -

"Ninety-eight... ninety-nine... one hundred! Goodness, you've done it!" Two laughed, applauding. "See Zoe, I thought he was right!"

She shrugged, masking a smile as Jamie fell into a heap on the floor. The young Scot had been lifting himself - and maintaining elevation - off the floor with his hands as a challenge after she'd expressed some doubt as to his claims about his arm strength.

"Alright, alright. Yes Jamie, I suppose you're stronger than you look,"

"Is that supposed tae be an insult?" he moaned from the floor, rubbing his arms.

"Not at all," she said coolly. "Just an observation."

"Well in that case it's a very good one," the Doctor laughed. "Bravo, Jamie, bravo."

"I don't suppose we're headed anywhere more exciting?" Zoe asked, clearly not as entertained as the others were by the fact that they had resorted to daring each other over feats of strength when they could be out exploring the universe.

Two chuckled. "Not in particular. Is there someplace you're thinking of?"

Zoe was about to answer when the TARDIS was rocked with a sharp, jolting movement. As soon as everything was settled, there was a distinct lack of motion.

"Have we stopped?" she said instead.

"Looks like the TARDIS might'a chosen for you!" Jamie said, still lying down.

"Oh, do get up," she replied, glancing towards to Doctor for an answer. "Shall we have a look?"

"I don't see why not! Coming, Jamie?"

"Jus' gimme a momen'..."

- 3 -

"Is something wrong?" Three asked, looking across the room to where Sarah Jane sat, staring off absent-mindedly.

"Oh?" she said. "No, not at all. Just thinking."

"About what, dear girl?"

"Well, you know... traveling... it's all been wonderful. Just very very busy."

The Doctor chuckled. "Busy's not a bad word, if occasionally a bit of an understatement. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh certainly! On both counts."

"Would you go so far as to say it's a good one?"

She grinned. "Yes."

They remained in silence for a moment, and she was just about to speak again when there was a sudden crashing, clunking noise and everything in the console room shifted a bit to the left, then a bit to the right, and back to center.

"What was that?" she asked, getting to her feet.

"If I were to venture a guess, I'd say it might be something a bit busy. What do you say we check and see?"

"Sounds good to me!"

- 4 -

"Incompatible?" Four said, glancing at the data sheet in his hands. "How can it be incompatible?"

"Let me see, " Romana asked, tossing some blonde hair over her shoulder as she leaned over the Doctor's own.

"There's nothing to see, it's just-"

"-look, you've forgotten the carry the ϕ," she said.

"What ϕ?" he asked.

"Well that's the problem! The ϕ that's supposed to be over the ϐ. Honestly, didn't you pay attention in Temporal Instability Manipulation 101?"

"No, I just called it 'TIM'." The Doctor smiled, then shook his head. "But that's irrelevant, there's no ϕ that's supposed to go there."

Romana pushed past him, looking instead at the data screen. "Watch, the simulation will run perfectly if you just... there!"

As she pressed the screen, the TARDIS shook as if by some unknown force.

"Now look what you've done!" Four said, dashing to the controls. "That just caused the TARDIS to shake as if by some unknown force!"

"Nonsense," Romana huffed. "That's hardly a result of my editing." She glanced at the console. "We've landed!" she added, surprised.

"But where?" Four asked, grinning once again.

- 5 -

"Go fish," Nyssa said, looking pointedly at Adric.

"Go what?" he asked, confused.

"Fish."

"Why?"

"Just take a card from the middle," Tegan sighed, glancing over her shoulder at Five, who was reading a book.

"What's that got to do with fish?"

"Nothing," Nyssa said.

"Well that's odd," Adric said, obeying and taking a card all the same.

"I believe it's because the cards in the center are referred to as the pool," Five added absentmindedly.

Before more questions could ensue, there was a huge shaking movement. The five looked at each other, before noticing the lack of movement on the console.

"We landed?" Tegan asked, confused. "What's with that?"

"No idea," the Doctor replied. "Let's go have a look."

- 6 -

"And those, in short, are the basic tenants of temporal physics," Six said with finality, crossing his arms. Peri stared at him blankly.

"_Real_ clear, Doctor," she said finally, trying to remember what had even spurred this topic of conversation.

"Well I'm glad you... was that sarcasm, young lady?"

"_No_."

"Of all the..." Six went to cross his arms again, realized they hadn't yet moved, and simply gave a confused huff.

"Are we nearly... wherever we're planning on going?" Peri asked, wishing for the millionth time that the TARDIS had windows. She wondered if that was possibly, it being so weird on the inside compared to the outside. She'd have asked the Doctor, but he'd probably just lauch into a long-winded lecture on dimensionally transcendental travel laws and her question would remain unanswered.

"If you mean the intended destination of 1920's New York... we must be. Can't take that long from our previous position... I wonder," he said, dashing to the console.

"We're still moving!" Peri pointed out, only to have a sudden jolt appear to cut whatever engines the TARDIS might be running. Did living ships still have engines? "Okay, not anymore, but my point stood at the time."

Six stared at the scanner as if it has personally affronted him. Whatever was outside was certainly not what he'd expected.

"We're heading outside now, Peri. Do try to keep up."

She rolled her eyes. Whatever was going on, it didn't make much more sense than the lecture earlier. Just a usual day then.

"I said, try to keep up!"

- 7 -

"Professor?" Ace asked, poking her head into the console room.

Seven was standing near the controls, absentmindedly tapping a dial. "Yes, Ace?"

"Where're we headed next?"

"I was thinking perhaps we'd let the TARDIS decide this time."

Ace got a sheepish look on her face, then slipped away before the Doctor could catch it. She wasn't entirely convinced he hadn't.

As she wandered back down the hallway, she muttered to herself. "I hope wherever it is they have duct tape..." Glancing behind her, she surreptitiously dashed into a side closet, shutting the door behind her.

Once inside she pulled the object she'd been hiding under her jacket into the light. Well, lack of light, for the time being.

Carefully, for fear of damaging it further, she felt around the jagged edge where she'd snapped it. Not long ago, she'd swiped some of the Professor's little chemistry doohickeys - at least she assumed they were the Professor's, but it was always possible someone else had left things lying around the TARDIS - from a storeroom to experiment with. She admitted that she actually had no idea what the tool she'd broken was supposed to do, which was why she hoped to fix it quickly... and quietly.

Suddenly, there was a terrible jerk and she found herself banging against the door of the closet, which popped open and unceremoniously dropped her onto the hallway floor, several brooms, mops, and assorted buckets raining down on her.

Seven's head appeared in the entrance to the all almost immediately, having clearly heard the crash.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, dashing over to her position on the floor and helping her up.

"No," she moaned. "What was that?"

"Some sort of a temporal disturbance, I haven't yet - oh! Look, it's my hypo-spangulator!" he said, picking up the broken tool Ace had been hoping to repair earlier. "Shame, looks like the impact snapped it. I've been looking for it everywhere. No loss - it'll be fixed up in no time!" He suddenly got a strange look on his face. "Ace, what were you doing in there?"

"Shouldn't we check on that disturbance, Professor?"

"Right, right! Outside, then. No time to snooze!"

- 8 -

Samantha Jones was not having a very good morning. She'd awoken earlier than intended to a terrible low noise that consisted of buzzing and squealing inexplicably layered on each other.

She'd discovered only shortly after that it was the TARDIS's equivalent of a smoke alarm.

Not long after, she'd grumpily stumbled into the room the noise seemed to be coming from, only to see the Doctor holding what appeared to be a futuristic fire-extinguisher.

"Doctor, just because you don't need to sleep..."

"I was only making toast!" Eight had said. "The artron energy must have-"

"-At this hour?"

"What hour?" he'd asked, confused. The subsequent haphazard lecture on the mysterious nature of time travel and its effects on breakfast had also not been what she'd wanted. Nor was the necessary cleanup of the mysterious charred spots in the sink and on the counter. Not to mention there was no breakfast yet to speak of, as the aforementioned toast was unceremoniously burned to a crisp.

Sam shook her head and sighed sleepily, now leaning against the wall in the kitchen - sometimes the Doctor was capable of cooking a five-course dinner with a whisk and a frying pan, sometimes he couldn't heat up bread. Just another mystery she'd never understand.

There was a sudden jolt and the floor felt as if it had fallen out from under her. As soon as it had stopped, she gave Eight an accusatory glance as if to ask "What now?". He returned the glance, grinning, and dashed from the kitchen, coattails flying.

Sam groaned and pushed herself off the ground, supposing she should follow him.

As she entered the massive expanse of the console room, she noted two things. Firstly, the Doctor was hopping from from control to control to diagnostic... thing... with a bit more concern than usual, and second, the center of the console had ceased moving up and down.

"We've landed?" she asked.

"Apparently."

"Where?"

"Haven't the faintest."

She stood in silence for a moment. "I guess this means I should get dressed, doesn't it?"

"A wise idea."

- 9 -

"And that," said Jack Harkness, laying a Queen and King card on the TARDIS floor, "means I win. Three games in a row!"

The Ninth Doctor groaned as Rose leaned over to examine the ace, Jack, and ten lying in the center.

"A royal flush, " he said. "I should've known."

Jack grinned, leaning back against the wall with his hands behind his head. "You're looking a bit royally flushed yourself, Doctor. What're we up to now, best 4 out of 7?"

"I think I'm done," Rose said, tossing her cards down in the center. They were a far less fortunate eight and nine. The Doctor followed suit, tossing in a six and two.

"Why'd you stay in on that hand, Doc?" Jack smirked, cleaning up the pile.

"I was distracted," he muttered, glancing back at the nearby TARDIS console.

"Distracted?" Rose asked as Jack continued to chuckle.

"Something's not right."

"Is it ever?" Jack asked, moving on to shuffling the cards and shoving them back in the box.

"Careful with those!" Nine admonished. "Picked them up in 19th century France."

Jack glanced down. "Really?"

"Paris. Look, now you've bent one," Nine muttered.

"Sheesh, calm down. Something got you on edge? Don't worry Doc, you'll always have Paris."

Nine rolled his eyes, then got up. Though he hadn't admitted it directly, he did have a strange feeling of apprehension. Things were not as they should be.

"I think we're landing," he said, confused.

"Landing?" Rose asked.

The sudden lurch the time machine gave confirmed his suspicions as the three travelers were flung backwards into the railing behind them. The not yet closed card box scattered its contents across the floor again.

As soon as the shaking stopped, they got to their feet again. Jack looked at the mess, amused.

"Fifty-two pick-up?" he said, raising an eyebrow. His humor was lost on the other two, racing towards the door.

"C'mon!" Rose called. "Let's get a look outside!"

Jack shrugged, grabbing his coat off the railing. Time to see what was up, then.

- 10 -

"So what's this one, then?" Martha asked, pulling another book from the stack she'd accumulated. Ten was lazily spinning back and forth in the chair by the console, explaining to her what some of the books she'd snatched from the TARDIS library were about - if he felt at liberty to. Thus far "History of the 22nd Century" and a suspiciously cheesy looking novel with a title in Gallifreyan had been rejected.

"That?" he said, leaning forward. "Oooh, that's a bit your speed. Medicine."

"Seriously?" she asked, popping it open. There was a diagram of indecipherable squiggles and blobs and what appeared to be five eyeballs.

"Well," he said, "not human medicine."

"Any advice on Time Lords in here, then?" she asked, skimming through the pages. "Might come in handy with the state you've been getting yourself into lately."

Ten's face fell. "No, not in there. Probably not many places anymore."

She looked up. "Oh, God, I'm sorry, I didn't... I just thought..."

His face perked up again, quickly masking any other emotions. "No no no no, good train of thought, good good good, caution is good. Just don't take me to a hospital and you should be good all around. I hate hospitals."

"You know, I think you've mentioned that..."

"Have I?" he grinned. "What a surprise."

"Y'know, for a doctor, that's a bit of a quirk."

"I'll leave the hospital bits to you, _Dr._ Jones."

Martha was about to retort with an appropriate response, but the sudden movement of the console jerked her feet out from under her. Next thing she knew, she was on the ground, as were the books she'd been holding.

"What was that?" she spluttered instead.

"I don't know..." Ten murmured, leaping up to glance at the screen in front of him. "What do you say we find out?"

"Fine by me!"

- 11 -

"We are not playing Monopoly!"

"Amy..." Eleven pleaded. "I found the racecar this time!"

"The last time we played a board game you accused it of hating you."

"RISK doesn't understand history - it wanted me to invade Russia and that never works. Really, Y'know this one time... hang on, what about Cluedo?"

There was a sudden clunking noise and the TARDIS seemed to leap in midair. But Eleven found the conversation at hand more important.

"Or even cards, I've always rather liked cards..."

"Has anyone noticed the TARDIS has stopped moving?" Rory called from the other side of the console room. That grabbed the Doctor's attention.

"Really? Oh, landing, I like landing, much better than boring old cards anyway. Except that one game I played with Louis the Fourteenth and he was a _dirty_ cheater. Shall we check it out?"

"The cards?" Amy asked, confused.

"No, the landing. Got to be something special, old girl doesn't often stop for no reason like that."

* * *

**A/N:** Hello everyone! Welcome to my personal tribute for the 50th anniversary. I realize that, depending on where you live, it may actually be tomorrow (wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey zones and all...), but as of this chapter's uploading it is October 4th, 50 days to the anniversary.

First things first - I want this fic to be able to be enjoyed by all in the fandom, so if there's every anything anyone (especially new series fans, I think) doesn't understand, just ask me! Shoot me a PM or ask in a review or something. On the flip side - the Whoniverse is massive, and I'll admit I'm far from comprehensive with certain Doctors in particular. If any of you notice a discrepancy or error, do tell me. It just wouldn't be a tribute if it's wrong in some way.

That said, here's some info on our Doctors and companions that should help a bit. Episodes and personnel both, to give you an idea of what they'll personally have experienced at this point.

**One**, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton, and Barbara Wright: somewhere between "The Aztecs" and "The Sensorites" (Season 1)

**Two**, JamieMcCrimmon, and Zoe Heriot: between "The Invasion" and "The Krotons" (Season 6)

**Three **and Sarah Jane Smith: traveling between "Death to the Daleks" and "The Monster of Peladon" (Season 11)

**Four**, Romana II, and K-9 Mark II: between "The Creature from the Pit" and "Nightmare of Eden" (Season 17)

**Five**, Nyssa, Adric, and Tegan Jovanka: between "Black Orchid" and "Earthshock" (Season 19)

**Six **and Perpugilliam "Peri" Brown: between "Timeslash" and "Revalation of the Daleks" (Season 22)

**Seven **and Dorothy "Ace" McShane: sometime after "Survival" (obviously before "The Enemy Within" which, yes, I will refer to as such because Eight deserves a good episode name for his only televised adventure) (post-Classic series cancellation)

**Eight **and Samantha "Sam" Jones: ...chosen because she's early enough in Eight's run that there are slightly fewer paradoxes. I'm not sure about when. Probably sometime after "Seeing I", but maybe a bit further. For anyone who doesn't know, Sam is a companion from the Eighth Doctor Adventures novels, as Eight's stories are practically all off-screen. I went with the books as opposed to the audios as it's _possible _they could occur in the same continuity, but "The Eight Doctors" most certainly kicks off first.

**Nine**, Rose Tyler, and Jack Harkness: between "Boom Town" and "Bad Wolf" (Series 1 - and note, this means Jack is not yet immortal. Important, that.)

**Ten **and Martha Jones: between "Family of Blood" and "Blink" (Series 3)

**Eleven**, Amy Pond, and Rory Williams: between "The Curse of the Black Spot" and "The Doctor's Wife" (Series 6)

Also, I want to extend personal thanks to everyone that's already heard me ranting about plotting this monster - Olive and Silver (as I know them) get some credit already for their suggestions this chapter.

Hope to see the rest of you all on this journey as well!


	2. Chapter 2 - Hello Again!

Chapter 2 - Hello Again!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Doctor Who. But someday I'll travel back to 1963 in my TARDIS and see if that can't be fixed...

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"Well_ this_ is a fine place..." Rose said, sounding more than a bit annoyed. Nine and his companions were the first out of their TARDIS, rushing to see what might await them after so dramatic a landing. Needless to say, they were disappointed. Outside of the ship was a bleak industrial setting, all futuristic steel and girders

"Space station," Nine proclaimed. They looked around, wondering why on earth such dramatic circumstances would take them_ here_.

Suddenly there was a shout from one of the side hallways that branched away from the cavernous room they found themselves in.

"Anybody here?"

Nine screwed up his face in thought, bordering on recognition. "I know that voice," he said to Jack. "Why do I know that voice?"

"Female," Jack said, winking.

Nine rolled his eyes, wandering in the direction the voice had come from. Rose ran after him and Jack followed suit.

"Hello?" Nine asked as he reached the hallway entrance. From the shadows, two figures emerged. One was a young woman, probably in her early twenties, with short brown hair and a somewhat revealing top. The other was older, a man with curly brown hair and the most garishly multi-colored coat Rose had ever seen.

Nine stopped dead in his tracks. "_You?_ What are _you_ doing here?"

"I beg you pardon," the man said, insulted. "What are you talking about?"

"You know him, Doc?" Jack asked. Rose was still a bit too distracted by the coat to pose her own inquiry.

"You can't be here," Nine continued. "It's not possible!"

"I rather think I'd like to dispute your definition of possible,"

"Oi, watch who you insult, might regret it in a moment!"

The man's female companion, who looked just as confused as Rose, turned to her, perhaps hoping for an explanation, perhaps just for an introduction. "Hello," she said cautiously. "I'm Peri, Peri Brown."

"Rose Tyler."

Jack decided to chime in as well. "Captain Jack Harkness. Peri, you said?"

Nine rolled his eyes as she blushed slightly.

"Short for Perpugilliam," he said. She shot him an incredibly surprised look. He turned to the blonde man.

"Alright, look, it'll be easier this way. Just quiet down for a moment, I know it's hard for you."

"Was that an-" the other man began, but stopped suddenly as his expression changed drastically to one of distracted disconnectedness. His face now very blank, he slumped against the wall.

"Telepathic communication," Jack whispered to Rose.

"Doctor! No!" the girl, Peri, shrieked, then turned to them. "What have you done to the Doctor, you creep?"

"Did you just say Doc-" Rose began to ask, but was cut off as the other man came to once more, righting himself once again.

"You are a reckless, dim-witted, and utterly insufferable _idiot_!" He shouted. "How could you bring your TARDIS here, now, when you recalled being here as me?"

"Now hold it right there!" Nine said. "_I_ happen to have no memory of this event either, for your information."

"Just a minute!" Rose shouted, feeling as if there was too much shouting going on anyway. "Could someone explain what's going on?"

"Rose," said Nine gruffly, "meet me. Well, me a couple hundred years ago."

"A couple hundred?" the other Doctor exclaimed. "I thought you said you were the Ninth!"

"I _am_!"

"What and you're running through lives like sand through an hourglass? I'm only the Sixth!"

"I'm aware of that!" Nine shouted back.

Peri's eyes widened and she looked towards Nine. "You mean this is another one of you, Doctor? Another regeneration?"

"What on _earth_ is a regeneration?" Rose added, shouting now being a given. "How can he be you, Doctor?"

Nine was about to answer, it appeared, when the five were interrupted by the familiar whirring _"vworp"_ of another TARDIS materializing. Their heads whirled simultaneously in the appropriate direction.

Soon after the box materialized, another figure stepped out, this one younger, blonde, and clad in a gentleman's cricket outfit.

"Oh-ho!" Nine said to Six. "Now who's dim-witted and forgetful? Five comes before Six, doesn't it? Or do you believe me now?"

There was no response, other than crossed arms and a slight harrumph

"Doctor?" Peri said quietly, and somewhat incredulously to the new arrival. "Doctor, is it really you?"

Five looked at her curiously. "Yes, I think. But I'm afraid we haven't met. Yet."

Peri looked hurt for a moment, then sighed. "Time travel?" she asked sadly, turning to Six.

"Time travel," he said in agreement.

"Well it's good to see you again anyway," Peri said to Five.

"And it'll be a pleasure to meet you, I'm sure," he smiled.

Off to the side, Rose was looking incredulously at the scene around them. "That's another TARDIS," she said blankly. Looking at Jack, she repeated it. "Another. TARDIS."

"I'm more interested in the other Doctors," he said in return, cueing a look from Nine.

"Oh for the love of-"

"Just kidding, Doc."

From the inside of the new vehicle, three more people tumbled out into a bit of a heap, as if there'd been something of a scuffle at the door. Five looked down at his companions, then at the others.

"It seems you know us better than I know you, but in case something's slipped by, this is Nyssa, Tegan, and Adric. Likewise," he added, facing the companions, "these are apparently some regenerations of myself."

Adric poked his head up from the pile, accidentally elbowing Tegan, who gave a disgruntled "Oof!"

"Doctor, Doctor, and Doctor? How many of you are there?"

Five and Six looked at Nine, who, being the oldest Doctor present, would be most likely to know. He shrugged.

"At least nine," Six said.

"And three of us are here..." Five mused.

Another _vworping_ noise signalled the disproval of that statement.

"Oh for... what's the meaning of this?" Six shouted over the noise as Five's companion's righted themselves.

"I don't recognize that TARDIS," Nine mused, glancing at the materializing exterior of the ship. "Different design."

Only moments after, a cheery face appeared behind the door. His expression modified slightly when he saw what waited outside.

"Right then," the young stranger commented. "I'm my own welcoming party. Lovely to see me again fellows, but isn't this all a bit odd?"

"You're tellin' me," Nine muttered. He turned to Adric. "Also, make that at least ten."

"Ten?" the newly-arrived Doctor said indignantly. "I'm not Ten, I'm Eleven."

"At least eleven."

"At least eleven whats?" Eleven asked.

"Of me!" Six bellowed.

"How is that even_ possible_?" Rose shouted back.

In the midst of the confusion, Eleven's companions wandered out of the most recently-materialized TARDIS.

"This is Amy and Rory, by the way," Eleven added. "Amy, Rory, introductions are difficult. But say hello to me."

"Erm... hello?" Amy said.

"No no no, not _me_ me, the other mes!"

Amy and Rory looked at each other in confusion. Before any further elaboration could occur, more faces familiar to the Doctors (and one companion) wandered into the room, their TARDISes having landed elsewhere.

"Jamie! Doctor!" Peri shouted, waving at the young Scotsman and the Second Doctor. It wasn't long after she'd last seen them, in Spain, during that problem with the Sontarans. They were accompanied by a dark-haired girl she didn't recognize, as well as a tall, curly-haired man with an excessively long scarf, a blonde girl, and what appeared to be a robot dog labelled on the side as "K-9".

Jamie waved back, causing her some relief. At least someone she met before knew who she was.

"Doctor," the dark-haired girl asked, "Who's she?"

"A future friend. It appears, Zoe," Two said, as they moved to join the others "That there are more than two incarnations of myself here."

"You mean more than you and this fourth one?"

"Apparently so," Four answered prematurely, and K-9 gave a matching "Affirmative."

"I count six total," the blonde volunteered, raising an eyebrow. "That's an awful lot of you."

"The more the merrier, Romana!"

In response, she muttered something that didn't sound unlike "paradox".

As the two groups rejoined, another set walked in from the other side. This time it was only two men and two girls.

"Sarah _Jane_!" Eleven squealed, "My fourth me's here so you must be with... yes, yes, look hello, third me!

The young brunette to whom this statement was directed looked towards her white-haired friend in confusion. "Doctor, how does he know me? I've never seen him before in my life!"

"I believe we've run into another incarnation of mine, like him," Three said, pointing to the other man who'd entered with them.

"There sure seem to be an awful lot of you, Professor," the other girl said, staring out at the crowd.

"Yes, well," the other man said in return, "I suppose, Ace, it's only to be expected when you're number seven."

"Oh dear, you don't think we're all here, do you?" Three said. "I shouldn't like to be seeing certain mes just now."

"I heard that!" the Second Doctor shouted back from the other group.

"Oh, are we insulting each other now?" Four asked brightly. "In that case, Six's coat is terrible."

"Said the me wearing a twenty-foot scarf!"

"Twenty-_three_."

"Oh, shut it!"

The noise in the room grew to a roar as the others gleefully joined in the dysfunctional cacophony, to the point that no one heard the arrival of the next TARDIS until it was nearly corporeal. The noise died down a bit as the Doctors whirled their heads to see who was turning up now.

As the next man emerged from its door, hardly a second passed before Eleven looked at Nine pointedly. "_That's_ Ten!" he exclaimed.

Ten was a bit more concerned by the number of faces he saw before him, almost all so concerningly familiar. He rattled off names in confusion as he stepped from the doors. "Tegan? Ace... Zoe... Adric? Romana... Rose..."

"Hold it," his companion said, emerging herself, "That's that girl you're always on about, isn't it? Are you hallucinating or something now?"

"No, really Martha, Rose. There," he said pointing at her. Rose looked at him in awkward glance that very clearly said _"Who are you and what is your problem with me?"._ "And all the others, too," Ten added hastily, waving his hands about as he attempted to point at all of them.

Martha raised an eyebrow as they walked towards to others, staring at the girl she'd heard so much about.

"Blonde..." she muttered.

"Excuse me?" Rose said, switching her gaze from Ten to his companion. "What was that, then?" Martha didn't respond.

"I asked you a question!"

Any further awkwardness was spared by the noises that signalled the arrival of another time machine.

"There's only two of us left, now. Two of us not yet here, that is," said Five, who'd been counting Doctors the whole time. Eleven looked at him curiously, as if to inquire who exactly. Before he could answer, the doors to the new arrival opened.

A man in Edwardian dress stepped outside, followed by a less-anachronistically dressed teen girl with short-cropped blonde hair. He smiled widely as they emerged.

"Look, Sam!" he said happily. "It's me!"

"What are you going on about now?" Sam said, glancing around at the assorted faces, none of whom remotely resembled her friend.

"I believe, young lady," said Three, "that you are in the company of someone who goes by 'the Doctor'?"

Sam nodded, pointing a thumb at her traveling companion. "If you mean this bloke, you'd be right."

"Yes, well, would you get my meaning if I were to describe myself as 'this bloke', only a bit younger?"

Sam stopped for a moment, clearly considering the idea. "Like a previous life?"

"More like a previous self," said Ten, extending his hand to her to shake. "Or future in my case. Lovely to see you again, Sam. Jones... Samantha Jones... I've got another Jones now, Martha Jones. I'd ask if you're related but I think not. That'd be a bit timey-wimey even for me."

Sam took it all in stride, accepting the handshake. "So which one are you?" she asked her Doctor.

"Eight, I think."

"You think?"

"...it's been a bit of a run."

Now that the vast majority of Doctors had arrived and begun to argue with each other, there were several amongst their number who were attempting to make sense of it all. It was eventually established that only their original incarnation was missing.

"Why do I feel as though he's not far behind?" Three said quietly. Several other Doctors nodded in agreement, while others were skeptical as to why they were all in the same location to begin with.

The argument was settled by the creaking noises of the final phone box's arrival. As the door opened, a thick silence fell across the room, blanketing humans, Time Lords, and various others alike. There was quite the atmosphere of anticipation.

When the door creaked open after what seemed far longer that the few seconds it had truly been, the face of the First Doctor appeared. His eyes widened at the size of the welcoming party.

"Excuse me," he said as he stepped out, followed by his companions, "But what exactly are you all doing here?"

"Erm..." Ten spoke up first, looking briefly at the other Doctors as if hoping someone else would answer. No one did, so he continued. "Actually we were wondering if you could give us an explanation."

"Me?"

"Well if you didn't somehow summon the rest of us, that means it wasn't any one of us and that means... well, I don't know exactly what that means, but I'm working on it."

"And who, precisely, is 'us', dear boy?"

"Me!" said Four quickly. The others turned to look at him. "Well, and all the other mes, he added hastily. A look of recognition crossed over One's face.

"Oh my," he said. "But that means..."

"Grandfather, are they really all you?" Susan asked, finishing his thoughts aloud.

Before anyone could answer, the ceiling started to shake violently, followed only shortly after by the floor. A girder on the back wall came loose, crashing downwards with a noticeable THUNK.

"Take cover!" Seven shouted.

Everyone obliged.

* * *

**A/N: **It may not be true where you live, but this was indeed published on October 5, so our countdown continues. 49 days to the 50th!

Also, this chapter seemed a bit rushed to me - sorry if you had the same complaint, I'm just trying to move us on to the adventures, and while introductions are boring, they_ are _realistic.

There may be another notification tonight, I've noticed some little problems in the first chapter that I'll need to remedy, and I'd also like to give you some more background. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3 -- Let's Split Up, Gang!

Chapter 3 - Let's Split Up, Gang!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who, but if amass a large enough Dalek task force, I feel like that could be debatable.

* * *

The entire room shook with the sudden disturbance. All around, Doctors and companions stepped out of the way of falling debris, attempting to keep their balance on the shifting floor. They, for the most part, failed miserably.

Martha grabbed Ten's shoulder for support, unwittingly pulling them both to the ground and causing them to slide slightly, knocking Eight's legs out from under him and on top of Ten. He flailed and grabbed the end of Sam's hoodie, causing their pile to become four.

Across the room, Three had assumed a karate stance out of habit, dodging a piece of the ceiling in the nick of time as it fell to the ground. Sarah Jane and Adric less succesfully attempted to replicate it, the latter being unceremoniously yanked from the path of the debris by a worried-looking Five.

Nine was looking upwards somewhat incredulously, arms spread across Jack and Rose both in a defensive gesture not too unlike a mother bird protecting her chicks. As he stepped backwards to avoid a loose girder, Jack ducked under his arm to push a confused Zoe out of the way (who'd been distracted by Jamie's attempt to catch the Second Doctor as he leapt backwards in surprise), in the process knocking her to the ground. The falling beam landed only inches away from where her head had been previously.

"Thank you," she said, wide-eyed.

"Don't mention it," Jack said, winking.

"Not the time, Jack!" Nine yelled back, adjusting his position to cover Rose exclusively.

Eleven was sliding from place to place with his typical awkward grace in an attempt to reach his TARDIS, miraculously remaining uninjured all the while. Amy's attempts to follow him were more disjointed, stopping and starting abruptly as things landed in her path. Rory appeared to have given up an idea of rejoining them for the time being, instead assisting a fallen Nyssa to her feet.

Then, as abruptly as it had begun, the shaking stopped. A final girder slipped from its position and crashed to the floor behind them, but then all was silent.

Until the discussion started.

"Doctor, where are you?"

"Someone's sitting on my leg!"

"Where's Adric?"

"Is everyone okay?"

Some people were still trying to sort themselves out, pushing each other off themselves or climbing off the floor.

"Mph-hm-_hmph_-phm-mmph!" Ten muttered.

"What?" Eight looked around in confusion, still lying on his back.

"_MPH_-HM-_HMPH_-PHM-MMPH!"

"Doctor, stand up," Sam said, lending him a hand and doing the same herself. He obliged, causing a pained "Watch it!" from Ten.

"Now what were you saying?" Eight asked.

"Eight, get _off_ of me!"

"I beg your pardon I just did!"

Ten rolled his eyes and dusted his jacket off, moving to help Martha up as a look of realization dawned on the younger Doctor's face.

"_Oh_..."

Some ways away, Four was attempting to pull his scarf free from underneath a girder whilst Romana lectured him.

"I told you," she was saying, "this had the makings of a paradox from the start. The moment we ran into your second self..."

"Is that what this was?" Rose asked from nearby. "Some sort of time-travel problem?"

"More of a time_line_ problem," Romana said. "The Doctor's currently crossing his time stream eleven times, and that's not healthy by _any_ means.

"Oh dear," Five said. "Perhaps we'd better go our separate ways, then."

"That'd be just great," Nine said, emerging from his TARDIS. He'd dashed inside as soon as the shaking had stopped. "If it was possible."

"Whatever do you mean?" Zoe asked.

"I mean the TARDIS is out of commision," he grumbled. "No service. Something's wrong, she's gone into shutdown mode."

"And you don't have a better explanation than that?" Seven asked incredulously.

"Do I _look_ like I have a better explanation?"

In the midst of the discussion, Eleven (who'd reached his TARDIS after Nine, but before Nine had re-emerged) popped his head out of the doors.

"There's something wrong with the TARDIS!" he shouted back to the group.

"We've heard!" Six yelled back.

There was another massive shake, knocking most everyone off their feet again.

"But we've got to get out of here!" Five said, pushing himself up. "I mean, if our being here is honestly tearing this place apart, who knows how much longer we have?"

"Are there any functional TARDISes remaining? We should check," Three asked rationally. He'd remained standing, his balance helped by his martial arts techniques.

"There's no time to check them all!" Seven said from the floor. "Yours and mine landed some distance away!"

"As did mine," said Two grumpily, also on the ground.

"Well, everyone who landed in this hall, then!" Three said, shooting a glare at Two. "Honestly..."

Nine looked around him, trying to recall the process of events. "Ten, One, Eight, Five," he called off, "check your TARDISes."

here was a brief silence. "But what are the chances of-" Eight began, still on the ground.

"-_Just check them!_"

There was a brief scramble as the four Doctors righted themselves and took off towards their time machines at varying speeds. Only moments later, Ten called gleefully "I'm up and running!"

Ace and Tegan simultaneously punched the air, while about half the Doctors sighed with relief. But immediately after, Five forlornly said "No luck here," somewhat dampening everyone's spirits again.

"I appear to be operational," One said, stepping from his TARDIS. There were more sighs from Doctors and companions alike. Before their conversation had died down, Eight emerged once again as well, grinning.

"All aboard!" he said cheerfully.

"That makes three TARDISes," Seven said carefully. "Shall we split up so as to have better chances of remedying the situation?"

"If by 'remedying' you mean getting the other TARDISes operational and figuring out why this happened in the first place, by all means," said Nine. "And we might be able to split some certain mes up."

There was a pointed swivelling of heads towards Two and Three.

"Well then!" remarked Eleven brightly. "How best to divide into teams?"

"I want to go with Five!" blurted Ten, garnering more glances from the crowd, specifically a confused and embarrassed one from Five himself. "...if it works," he tagged on at the last minute.

"I don't see why not," One said carefully. "Assuming the idea's agreed upon."

"I suppose," said Five cautiously, heading towards Ten's TARDIS. He motioned for his companions to follow.

"Perhaps a better question would derive from experience?" Six said condescendingly as he watched Five go.

One nodded. "Yes, yes, how many of me have worked together before, hm?" he asked, raising his own hand. Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six followed. Eight put his hand up, then down, then up again, before glancing around and putting it down for the final time. The others eyed him strangely.

"I don't think I count," he said finally.

Seven shrugged. "If he doesn't count, then no."

One surveyed the remaining hands. "Alright then, how many of me have worked together _effectively?_"

Two and Three glanced at each other, slowly lowering their hands in mutual admission.

Noting that Four's, Six's, and his own remained, One delegated carefully. "Well then, Four, you go with Five and Ten; Six, go with Eight. As for splitting the two of you up," he said, gesturing towards his second and third selves, "Three, follow Four, and Two, go with Six. That leaves myself, Eleven, Nine, and Seven, correct?"

"Indeed," said Seven

Nine clapped his hands together. "Let's get going, then!"

One glanced at him. "Hm, why don't you go in Eight's TARDIS?" he asked.

"What?" Nine said "No!"

"Why on Gallifrey not?"

Nine hesitated, looking at Ten and Eleven, who shook their heads (albeit somewhat sympathetically).

"...because... I... don't want to," he stammered ultimately. "And... not with... him."

"That would seriously uneven our numbers, seeing as I already have 9 passengers and Eight only possesses 7" One said, a bit confused. "Let's do try to keep the teams even, shall we?"

Nine sighed in defeat. "Fine," he said, walking towards Eight's TARDIS resignedly. In the meantime, Eight was nervously bouncing on his heels, looking a bit disconcerted.

"Have I done something wrong?" he asked delicately.

Nine gave him a quick look, but remained silent.

"Will I?" Eight asked even more nervously. There was no response. He glanced at Sam, who shrugged.

One clapped his hands together. "Well then, let's agree to meet back here if we discover anything important, hm?"

"Fine by me," said Three. Several others nodded in agreement.

"Excellent. Best of luck to myself, and everyone else as well."

"...we're going to need it," Six muttered.

* * *

**A/N: **In case you didn't catch it, the teams are as follows (Doctors traveling with their respective companions):

One, Eleven, and Seven

Eight, Six, Two, and Nine

Four, Ten, Five, and Three

Tomorrow the adventures start in earnest! (By the way... October 6th, 48 days to the 50th!

...I feel like I'm counting down to Christmas.)


	4. Chapter 4 - The Inn of the Dancing Dalek

Chapter 4 - The Inn of the Dancing Dalek

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who, but that doesn't make it any less fabulous.

* * *

As the smallest of the teams piled into One's TARDIS, there was amiable, if little conversation.

"So you're the latest me?" One asked Eleven, smiling as he opened the door to his TARDIS.

"If you like. I could say you're the _youngest_ me," Eleven replied.

"True, true," One chuckled. "And you're number Seven?" he asked turning to his other incarnation present.

"Last I checked," Seven nodded.

The companions filed in slowly, One graciously extending his arm to the ladies as they stepped inside. Amy smiled back at him - there were miles between her flighty, boyish Doctor and this grandfatherly one. Speaking of which...

"Did you call the Doctor 'Grandfather'?" she asked, turning to Susan.

The girl smiled a bit shyly. "That's right," she said.

"I see," Amy said, though the expression on her face didn't _quite _convey the same nonchalance. She looked at Eleven, then One, then back at this girl (who, it occurred to her, was probably older than she looked..). She then shrugged, not hoping to make sense of it - the Doctor was old enough to have secrets of his own, she supposed. But it was still a bit jarring to think he'd ever had a remotely normal life. "Bet he makes for an interesting one!" she added.

Susan leaned in towards her, hand cupped over her mouth. "He's my favorite," she whispered playfully. "That's why I ran away with him."

Amy smiled back. "I ran away with the Doctor too," she said. "But my life found me again. Sort of."

"Oh I hope mine doesn't!" said Susan. "It'd be terribly dull."

"That's what I said too," Amy shrugged. "Funny how that worked."

There was a familiar whirring as One started the TARDIS in flight, causing everyone to gather around the console in curiosity.

"So where're we headed, Professor?" Ace asked, grinning.

"Would you believe me, dear girl, if I said I haven't the faintest idea?" said One.

Seven took a more logical approach. "Surely we'll end up somewhere that should help us crack this case," he said. "The TARDIS is rarely one for a wild moose chase."

"Except for that one time in Yellowstone," Eleven said brightly. He noted everyone else's blank looks, then continued. "Oh, wait, that's not happened yet, has it? Never mind. Just hope to avoid large, angry quadrupeds and you should be fine," he said. "Particularly ones with antlers," he added, stopping and putting his hands on his head, as if to demonstrate what exactly antlers were for anyone less knowledgable in his audience. Ian and Barbara exchanged confused glances - was it really possible for this man to be their Doctor? No matter how many years had passed, there was a lot of change to account for.

Eleven looked back at them, noting their confused expression. He dropped his hands from his head and clapped them together.

"Speaking of time -" he said " where am I right now? Wait wait wait, a friend of mine taught me how to do this. Erm... have you done the one with the French Revolution yet?"

The four earliest travelers shook their heads.

"Daleks?" he said. This time they nodded.

"Some time ago," Barbara said.

"Erm... Sensorites?"

They shook their heads again.

"Aztecs?" Seven offered.

"Yes, we just finished that one," said Ian proudly, seeming glad to know what they were talking about.

"And I suppose you've been equally busy?" One asked.

It was everyone else's turn to nod.

"Well, I shan't ask about it then - can't go knowing these things ahead of time."

Eleven looked as if he was about to refute this statement, but Seven shot him a look that silenced him rather quickly. The TARDIS descended into an uncomfortable quiet. It was broken only shortly after by the sounds of materialization.

"Still makes the same noises," Rory commented as all three Doctors gathered around the console to see what was happening.

"Still the same TARDIS!" Eleven shouted back gleefully.

As soon as the machine had well and truly landed (as indicated by the ceasing of the vworping), Ace was the first out the doors. She stepped outside, then punched the air.

"Oh, _ace_, Professor!" she shouted back, motioning for the others to follow.

"Where have we landed?" Ian asked.

"Come and see!" she replied.

The others obliges, filing out if the police box in relative order. Outside was a scene out of a fantasy novel, or perhaps an old tapestry that graced the walls of a castle. But it was significantly less moth-eaten than the latter, and noticeably more existent than the first.

Colorful banners with crests of assorted pompous and likely notably important individuals hung from the tents and poles that surrounded where they stood. All around them, people bustled about busily in period-appropriate dress.

"Medieval?" Barbara said, glancing around.

Eleven licked his finger and held it up in the breeze. "France, 1150," he proclaimed.

"He just does that to look cool," Rory whispered to Ian, who nodded.

"I _am_ cool," Eleven responded, straightening his bow-tie in a "_need it even be said?_" sort of gesture.

"But why would the TARDIS even take us here?" Barbara asked, looking around, "What does it have to do with the other TARDISes and Doctors and everything?"

"Whatever the case, I think it encourages further investigation," Seven said, taking a step forward. "Shall we?"

Their party began to make their way through the bustling streets, glancing around them at the assorted sights - and smells - of the tournament village. Everywhere was a flurry of activity. Somewhere in the distance, Susan could have sworn she heard music.

"Well," Ian was saying, "where would be the best place to start?"

"Are there any tournament officials around?" Rory asked. "Seems like they'd know something, that is, if anything suspicious is going on. Which I'm sure it is, all things considering."

"Never trust the authorities, Pond!" Eleven said, somewhat loudly, as he dodged a loose chicken. He brushed a feather off his jacket sleeve. "They're the first ones to realize something's wrong and the last ones to admit it! Not the other way 'round, right?" he asked Seven.

"Probably better off asking someone on to the sidelines, if you will," Seven added, nodding. "No hesitation."

"Yes, but would they have the information?" Barbara asked.

"Information? Of course, people like - _oof!_" Eleven began, but collided into a hurried man heading in the other direction.

"Sorry, sorry!" the man said quickly, gathering up a bundle he'd dropped.

Eleven merely smiled "Like this man!" he said. "Hello, sir, have you seen any information as of late? Terribly important."

"Information?" the man asked, running his had thoughtfully through his hair. He seemed remarkable recovered for the collision.

"You know, strange happenings, mysterious strangers, disturbances in the universe, misplaced chickens, maybe something impossible?"

The man looked thoughtful - a little _too_ thoughtful, in Ace's opinion - then leaned over.

"Perhaps."

"Could you elaborate?"

The man put a finger to his lips, then motioned towards a nearby building. It appeared to be a tavern of some sorts. The time-traveling party exchanged quick glances, then moved to follow him.

Inside the building, the atmosphere was significantly dulled. The light was dim, and conversation was somewhat hushed. Groups sat at oaken tables, leaning towards each other as they discussed matters over pints of ale and other stereotypically-present-at-taverns foods.

"Very Middle Earth," Eleven whispered to Amy as they walked in.

"Good place for you, Space Gandalf," Amy replied, causing Ace to snort, immediately burying her face in the crook of her elbow to muffle it. She also muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "...Merlin".

Their new acquaintance motioned for them to have a seat at one of the empty tables in a corner, though there was hardly room for them all. Seven, Ian, Rory, and Eleven remained standing, leaning in instead to hear the stranger's words.

The man cleared his throat, looked around cautiously, and said carefully "I've seen all o' those things,"

"All what?"

"All those things this boy said," he elaborated, pointing to Eleven, who looked somewhat amused at being considered younger - he was the oldest person in the room!

"Impossible'n whatnot," the man added "I don't want you to think me mad, so I won't share them yet. But you're right to worry."

"Won't share them yet?" Ace said "That's no way to get us to trust you."

"You'd do well to keep her a bit quieter," the man said gruffly. Seven sighed and put a hand on Ace's shoulder. She sat there looking offended.

"She was just asking!" Amy added.

The man eyed _her_ curiously now, but remained quiet. The Doctors exchanged slightly concerned glances - they had a few too many feisty females in the group to conform to any typical medieval standard. Then again, might be better to let the townsfolk figure that out for themselves. No pushovers here.

"Now," the man said, continuing, "that's not to say I won't share anything later. But I've got to trust you first. Think perhaps you could prove that to me?"

The group nodded, playing along for the time being. The man smiled at them.

"In that case, I have a proposition to make."

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you so much to everyone who's been reviewing, favoriting, and following this story! I really appreciate it, more than I think you know. :3

47 days to the 50th... looks like there are some odd rumors floating around today. I'm all excited/confused at once and we still have weeks to go!


	5. Chapter 5 - Look Down

Chapter 5 - Look Down

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who, but I if I did there would be a lot of episodes with terrible puns for titles. So that might be a good thing.

* * *

Somewhere across the universe - though there was a distinct lack of Beatles music - the conversation was a bit more tense. After the initial shock (for most of the travelers) of stepping into Eight's TARDIS and attempting to grasp the sheer enormity of its interior, everyone had awkwardly shuffled into more familiar groups camped out across the floor.

Jack was sprawled out against a far wall, lazily examining the contents of a nearby bookshelf. _Dracula, The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The War of the Worlds_... He absentmindedly wondered why these particular novels had been pulled from the time machine's library, which he knew to be significantly more expensive.

Noting Jack's gaze from his position at the console (where he was locking in some final settings), Eight smiled slightly.

"Just some favorites of mine," he said, looking down to adjust something.

Jack nodded, glancing meaningfully at Nine. It was so hard to reconcile any of the other men who claimed to be the Doctor with the one he knew. Rose, he could tell, was experiencing something similar. She was looking at Nine with an expression that bordered on both concern and disbelief, not sure which was more important at the moment.

Nine was oblivious to both their attentions, staring straight forward. He sighed and closed his eyes, hoping, it seemed, that their journey would be a quick one.

On the other side of the vehicle, both Two and Six were beginning to look impatient. It was too quiet in this cavernous room, not to mention the awkwardly stifled air that permeated the thoughts of everyone present.

"Any intention to get underway?" Six snapped, sounding primarily bored.

Eight looked up slowly. "Just stabilizing," he said, to which Six rolled his eyes.

"I assure you, we're stable as can be. The same might not remain true however if we _fail to take off_."

Nine made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle, also cueing a smile from Jack. That sounded more like the Doctor.

"Well excuse me then," Eight said, firing an offended glance back at himself as he yanked the controls. The familiar sounds of materialization ensued. "If we end up in a supernova, however, I'd like to politely remind everyone that it was not my intention. Not this me, in any case."

"Psh," Six said. "When was the last time the TARDIS even came close to that?"

"When was the last time the TARDIS failed to start up?" Two muttered back. "I agree with Eight, something's not right about this. Discretion is the better part of valor, you know."

"You'd think they'd be able to agree on something," Zoe sighed to Peri, "at least, if they truly are the same person."

"Oh, I don't know," Sam replied, cutting into the conversation. "Sometimes I don't think I'd get along very well with myself either."

"I wish _I_ could meet another me..."

"_Jack!_"

"Sorry, Doc," Jack winked.

"For your information," Six said. "Meeting a previous regeneration is a somewhat disconcerting experience."

"Oh, go ahead, talk like I'm not in the room with me," Two muttered. Six frowned at him.

"If it makes me feel any better," Eight added brightly, "I don't feel so disconcerted."

"That's because you're always disconcerted..." Nine sighed. Sam raised an eyebrow in amusement, but said nothing.

"I beg your pardon!" Eight said, sounding slightly insulted.

"Do you remember the Fiocchi Rigati incident?" Nine asked.

"The what?"

"You're telling me you don't remember the Fiocchi Rigati incident? In our 5th regeneration?"

"No, what on earth are you-"

"-Go on, ask Six about it, he'll remember."

"Was there ever a Fiocchi Rigati incident?" Eight asked Six, managing to look both skeptical and concerned.

"Was there? _Was_ there? _The_ Fiocchi Rigati incident? I mean, I don't like to_ speak_ of it, but, questioning its existence entirely..."

Eight frowned, as if deep in thought. He glanced at the TARDIS console displaying its flight coordinates, still some ways away, then back at the others

"I'm going to the library to look up 'Fiocchi Rigati'," he announced.

"Fantastic. Have fun with that," Nine said, grinning.

"Yes, do report my findings," Six added with a similar smirk.

As soon as Eight had stepped outside of the room, the two of them burst into laughter, calming down after a few seconds but still looking very much amused.

"A'right then, ou' with it," Jamie said indignantly. "Wha' was this thing?"

Nine and Six looked at each other, then started laughing again.

"I don' see what's so-"

"-There is no Fiocchi Rigati incident," Nine admitted. "We're messing with him. In agreement, too," he added, nodding to Six. "Nice touch."

"Naturally."

Two raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. It was evident he didn't know how to feel about tricking himself, but he wasn't involved quite yet. He had a few regenerations before that happened.

Jack shook his head, also chuckling. "And here I was thinking it was something kinky..."

"And he believed you?" Rose asked incredulously, ignoring Jack's comment. "Shouldn't he remember that, y'know, not actually happening?"

"Not Eight." Nine said.

"Given that he was amnesiac when I met him..." Sam added from her sideways position in the armchair (as resident companion, she'd felt as if it was fair to claim the spot as a right of sorts) "...no, probably not."

"Seriously?" Rose said, wondering for the thousandth time (or possibly more) how the Doctors could be so different from each other. It seemed as if her Doctor never forgot.

"Almost makes you wonder what could happen to turn him into you," Two chuckled quietly, finally adding his two cents.

Nine's expression changed faster than anyone in the room had thought possible. His face, having shown laughter only a few moments ago, was the picture of melancholy sincerity. The room fell awkwardly silent once more.

Before the situation could descend any further, there was a sudden_ thunk_ not unlike the one that had pulled the original TARDISes from their paths and started this whole mess. Most everyone was either knocked sideways or off their feet.

Only moments after the movement stopped, Eight skidded into the room once more, nearly running into Zoe and Peri.

"Make it to the library?" Six teased, dusting himself off.

"What was that?" Eight asked, dashing towards the console. Something was flashing red "No no no no _no_! We've been pulled off course!"

"Where were we headed in the first place?" asked Jack.

"I'd set the coordinates for a spaceport that might be able to check up on the TARDIS coordinates, they'd had several Gallifreyan technicians last time I was there!"

"Yeah there's a reason that's not gonna work, not with me and Jack and Rose here!" Nine shouted at him.

Eight raised an eyebrow at Nine's words.

"Forget I said that," Nine muttered. "Forget I said that at all. You're good at that."

"Was that meant to be an attack on my-"

"-_Forget it!_"

Six and Two looked on in concern at the confrontation, wondering if perhaps there was an appropriate - or even necessary - time to intervene.

"Perhaps it's been skipped over at this point, but if we've indeed been pulled off course have you at least looked to see _where we're going_?" Six asked bluntly.

Eight glanced at the monitor, the screen of which was spinning and flashing concerningly. "No," he admitted. "No, I'm afraid not."

"Perfect," Two grumbled.

"Ca' you still land it?" Jamie inquired, sounding concerned.

Eight looked equally hesitant for a moment, glancing about the room at the assorted faces waiting for his answer. "Perhaps," he said carefully.

He then proceeded to smash the lever on the controls down in a haphazard, violent manner.

The whole TARDIS shook for a moment, but ceased her momentum. After a few agonizing seconds of waiting, the familiar braking sound could be heard throughout the room.

"Well we're landing _somewhere_," Peri said, not sure if she was too pleased with the idea.

"But where?" Zoe asked.

Everyone was eager to answer her question, as was made clear by the rush to the door when the noises stopped. Six held out a hand, keeping everyone else at bay.

"When entering an unknown environment, caution is of the utmost importance," he lectured. "Consequently, I shall go first."

About half the crew rolled their eyes.

The doors creaked open to reveal an environment not so unlike Earth as they'd been expecting. The setting was still distinctly alien, as was made clear by the two moons in the sky, one glowing an eerie red, but maintained an industrial infrastructure not dissimilar to that of the early 20th century. The night was cool, possibly even a bit chilly for the humans in their number.

"Wha' planet is this then?" Jamie asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know, Jamie," Two answered honestly.

"Well let's find out then!" Rose said, ready to stop sitting - or in their case now, now standing - around.

"Seems safe enough," Eight said.

"Famous last words," Jack said, grinning.

"...I seem to have a lot of those."

But conversation was no one's sole focus. Rather quickly, they filed out into the night air, glancing about. It seemed they were alone.

But not for long.

"A-_ha_," Eight said, sounding a bit concerned indeed. "Ladies, gentlemen, me, me, and me... I think I've found one thing I can agree on," he said quietly, looking over his shoulder slightly.

"What's that, Doctor?" Sam inquired.

"Look down."

The companions obliged as Eight gestured indeterminately to something behind his back.

He elaborated carefully, noting their confused expressions.

"I really, really-"

"-hate guns," finished Nine. Sure enough, all four Doctors, as well as Jack and Jamie, had sinister-looking weapons pointed at their backs. The entire group was surrounded by figures dressed all in black.

"Bad for your health," Six added, a bit late. One of the black figures nudged him in the side. "Oof! Now listen here you-"

"-you will come with us, and no one will be hurt. Yet." the figure said in a gruff voice.

"And why would we do that?" Two inquired.

"Because you are hereby accused of plotting against the Federation. Spies are spies, and will be treated as such."

The time-travelers exchanged glances, some nervous, some straight-faced.

"This is gonna be one of those days, isn't it?" Jack muttered. "I _hate_ those days..."

* * *

**A/N: **You guys... you're so amazingly positive about this story. I hope that as things get more interesting you'll only be more invested in it, since I'm already blown away by your praise. Today's October 8th - 46 days to the 50th!

As always, I can't thank you enough for your reviews, follows, and favorites. Feel free to start making some predictions of your own - I'm dropping clues already. Seeing speculation always makes me incredibly happy.

Thanks again!


	6. Chapter 6 - Dysfunctionality

Chapter 6 - Dysfunctionality

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who, but I have a pair of socks with K-9 on them and that's pretty much the same thing, right?

* * *

The last of the three currently active TARDISes somehow managed to materialize in a closet. It was, admittedly, a very spacious closet (seeing as it allowed enough room for police box inside), and could even now be considered bigger on the inside, but the mistake was not left unnoticed. In fact, when Ten pulled the doors open, he was very confused to see another, metal set staring back at him.

"What?" he said incredulously, tapping at the solid surface.

"We appear," Romana said, "to have landed in a closet."

Ten pushed on the door. It didn't budge.

"There is a distinct lack of a handle on the door," provided Three.

"That's how I knew it was a _closet_," Romana sighed.

Ten stared at the place where the handle would be, if this was an ordinary door not intent on ruining his day.

"I was going to sonic it," he bemoaned. "But there's nothing to sonic. How do you open a door that doesn't want to be opened from the inside?"

"Sonic it anyway?"

"Break it down!"

"Pick the lock?"

_"How?"_

"Actually check your landing coordinates..."

"Shush, Romana!"

"Look for another way out?"

"It's a _closet_."

The Doctors and their companions would likely have continued arguing about the merits and impossibilities of assorted closet-escaping methods for more time than was really wise (or necessary) had the door not suddenly opened. A young man in a plain, grey technician's uniform stared at them.

The TARDIS crew stared back.

The young technician rubbed his eyes as if in disbelief. Where had all these people come from and why exactly were they in a closet.

Perhaps more importantly, how did they even_ fit_ in there?

"Hello!" said Five cheerfully, pushing his way towards the front of the crowded doorway. He extended his hand as if to shake it. "I'm the Doctor. Or at least one of them."

"_How?_" asked the technician blankly.

Five looked a bit taken aback. "You just... shake it."

The technician blinked, shaking himself to clear some of the confusion. "I meant how are you all in there?" he asked.

"Dimensionally transcendental," Ten said, offering no further explanation as he stepped into the room. The others followed suit. "I'm also the Doctor," he added.

"As am I," said Three.

"I'm _the_ Doctor," said Four. "Subtle difference."

"That's a lot of Doctors," the technician said blankly, he was still very confused. "I'm just Mike."

"Wish you saw how many there were before..." Tegan grumbled.

"Nice to meet you Just Mike," Ten said, looking about. "Can you tell us where we are?"

"You mean other than standing in a closet?"

"No I think we've moved past that bit," said Three.

"Erm... you're on the Aqua 5 research station," said Mike. "Just off corridor 63."

"And where's Aqua 5?" Five inquired.

"...on the planet Vobnomeer, like the rest of the Aqua stations," Mike said. "Sir, are you feeling alright?"

"Fine, fine," Four said, prematurely answering for himself.

"Vobnomeer... that's the system as well, isn't it?" Romana added.

"Yeah..." Mike said carefully. These closet-people were weirding him out.

"Thank you, Just Mike," Four said. "We'll figure out the rest from here."

Before they could do so, however, there was a sudden flashing of lights, mostly red ones, lighting the room in an eerie and slightly menacing glow. A radio at Mike's waist crackled to life.

"Hydrotechnician 6931, we have another breach to report,"

"I noticed!" Mike snapped, unclipping the little silver module and holding it to his mouth.

"We'll need you up at control, are you available?"

"Yeah. Hey, were we expecting visitors?" Mike asked, carefully eyeing the large quantity of new arrivals.

"None were logged in the system, why?"

"I found some all the same."

"Bring them up with you then. But hurry - looks like one of the power lines to corridor 89 has been severed."

"I'll see what I can do."

There was a slight crackle and the radio fizzled off. The lights kept flashing in their erratic premonitions of warning. They stood in silence for a moment.

"Well, I assume you heard all that," Mike said to the time-travelers, finally.

"What do they mean by 'breach'?" Martha inquired.

"Pretty much what it sounds like, c'mon, we can walk and talk," Mike said, motioning to the doorway at the other end of the room and heading in that direction. The others followed.

"So what do you research at research base Aqua 5?" Three inquired as they started walking.

"The environment, mostly," said Mike. "Biologists, ecologists, meteorologists... other-ologists, all gathered in one place to study how best to improve living conditions, use resources, that sort of thing."

"And am I to infer that it's an oceanic environment?"

Mike looked at him incredulously. "Considering the entire surface of the planet it water... in a word, yes."

"I see. Now about that biology department..."

The conversation up front continued much the same for some time, the Doctors posing questions, Mike still responding in disbelieving incredulity, and Martha, Romana, K-9, and Tegan's occasional interruptions.

"Is it just me," began Nyssa, turning to Sarah Jane, "or are we being somewhat left behind?"

"I was thinking the same thing myself," she replied.

"I'd like to know more about this breach..." Adric muttered, motioning towards the flashing lights all around them.

Nyssa and Sarah Jane exchanged glances, then stopped dead in their tracks Adric soon followed suit, the three of them now simply standing in the hall. They could hear the others' voices dying away slowly as they continued on their path.

"Why, they haven't even noticed we're gone!" Nyssa said.

"All the better," smiled Sarah Jane. "Makes it easier to investigate."

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry the chapter today's a bit short - I'm currently prepping for a large trip that may mess around with the scheduling of this story a bit. I promise you one thing though - the intended number of chapters remains the same, so even if my assorted adventures cause me to miss an update, you'll just get an extra one later.

That being said, I'm not quite sure what going to be happening with timing for a little bit - I'll be in a drastically different time zone for about a week and a half. But as best I can figure out the wibbly-wobbliness, the countdown shall continue. Today's 45 days to the 50th!

Your reviews are fabulous, everyone. Very encouraging, motivating, and fun to read when you start asking questions. Thank you immensely!


	7. Chapter 7 - So Many Things Unknown

Chapter 7 - So Many Things Unknown

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, but I recently bought a copy of the novelization of "The Abominable Snowmen", so my collection is growing...

* * *

"This," shouted Six, "is an outrage!"

The team had been marched a good quarter of a mile from the location where they'd been detained, at gunpoint and under scrutiny all the while. He wasn't the first to be fed up with it, just the earliest to voice it. And the only one, seeing as he'd been going for several minutes straight now.

It gleaned little response. On or two of their captors offered a passing glance in his direction, but the others remained unfazed. The Doctor might as well have complained to a brick wall. But he wasn't about to stop for trying.

"I - _we_ - demand to know where we're being taken!"

"Give it a rest, Doctor," Peri said resignedly.

"I shall do no such thing!" he said indignantly.

"Yeah, I figured as much," she replied.

But the crew halted suddenly, their captors in the front standing suddenly still. Jack narrowly avoided running into one of the guards that stopped right in front of him, causing him to give Nine a questioning look. Had they arrived?

One of the guards, who been holding his gun a bit too close to comfort to Eight's head, stepped out of their tight, constricting formation and towards a wall alongside them (causing Eight to utter a near-indiscernible yet very relieved sigh). Quietly, the guard holstered his weapon and stepped towards the wall. He placed a hand on the seemingly-concrete surface, causing a rippling effect to spread on the surface. A thin layer of the grey covering melted away in the center, acting almost like a liquid, and revealing a glowing green touchscreen surface that scanned the hand and gave beep of recognition.

"Bio-imprinted radar-scanner," Six commented nonchalantly to Peri.

"Shhh," she hissed back.

The wall opened with a similar hydraulic hiss to reveal a large, hangar-like space. Jamie's eyes widened.

"They've go' a whole building in there!"

"Not unexpected," Nine grumbled.

"Whoever they are, they know what they're doing," Two added as they were once again forced to move, this time headed inside the headquarters.

One of their captors turned to face them. Without warning, their hands went up to the black, obstructing helmet that they wore, moving to take it off. They placed both hands on their head and pulled. Shoulder-length blonde hair fell out, and they found themselves staring into the face of a young woman with steel blue eyes.

"Yes, we like to think we do," she said coldly. "I think the more important question is, how much do you know?"

From that point, the Doctors and their companions were split, the former group having been recognized (from conversation, primarily) as the so-called ringleaders of their "operation" and therefore being significantly more worth everyone's time. The schism was very much not appreciated on both sides.

"Hold it," Nine said, "I'm not leaving them behind." He looked at Rose in particular.

"Why can't we stay with the Doctor?" Zoe asked, sounding concerned.

"I would very much prefer if Miss Brown were to remain in my presence..." Six began.

Rose looked at Sam who, along with Eight, was surprisingly quiet.

"You not going to comment?" she asked a little roughly.

"Seeing as I'm the one who seems to do quite a lot of the looking after, and neither of us wants to admit it... probably not," she replied, eliciting a quiet snort from Jack.

"You will go where you are told," the woman who appeared to be in charge of their captors said. "Is that understood?"

Everyone nodded, minus Six who looked as if he were about to start winding up again - but was forcefully prevented from doing so by Nine's hand over his mouth. The resulting reaction was more than slightly indignant.

And with that, the two parties were lead towards separate ends of the hangar - companions to the left, Doctors to the right. Still very much at gunpoint, to everyone's dismay.

The companions then were marched down a confusing maze of corridors to large cell block and lead inside, a concept which appeared to dismay Jack.

"Bit difficult to remember the way out," he muttered under his breath as the door shut with a metallic thud.

"Why, it's not at all!" Zoe said "An inverse from here would be a left, a right, two lefts, one big long corridor, another left, middle of a fork, right..."

"Woah woah woah," Jack held up a hand at the sudden informational deluge "Not bad," he added in a lower voice.

"We'll it's only a logical observation," she replied.

"Requires quite a memory, though," Jack said.

"Oh, aye, Zoe's got a great memory," Jamie said. "I think sometimes it's e'en better than the Doctor's."

"Sometimes it's even better than the Doctor's," Sam assured, sounding amused.

"Don't let him hear that anytime soon," Peri muttered

"In any case," Jack said, "it'll help us when-"

"Isn't it weird," Rose interrupted, "how we all know different men who're supposed to be the same person? They sure don't feel like the Doctor to me; I feel more like I hardly know him anymore."

"I never felt like I knew him in the first place," complained Peri.

"They do seem rather different," Zoe mused. "I mean, our Doctor's terribly unprofessional at times, but not nearly so strange as yours seem,"

"Yours seem to have a bit less of an ego," Peri said, a slight edge to her voice that could have conveyed either amusement or jealousy.

"Yours seems to have more things to be egotistical about," said Sam in response.

"Touché."

"And then there's yours," Sam continued, motioning back to Rose. "I mean, what, we go from checkered pants and bow ties" she said, pointing to Zoe and Jamie, "to... that, whatever it is..." pointing to Peri, who shrugged, "to all... flouncy, to - what even is that, leather? I know for a fact my Doctor'd be miserable in that coat. You sure you didn't force it on him or something?"

Rose looked at her, displeasure evident. "Look just because he's not a circus tent or somethin' doesn't mean anything's wrong with him."

"No, just the fact that he's incredibly _rude_," Sam retorted.

"Excuse me?" Rose whirled around to face the other girl directly.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed. Ever since the Doctor - _my_ Doctor - and I have showed up it's been all 'Not with him!' and insults and the like. Have you got a problem with us or something?"

"_I_ don't," Rose said, "and neither does he," she added. "At least, he's always got his reasons for things," she continued, a bit more hesitantly.

"Oh, and he's got reasons for picking on someone?"

"He is not! They're the same person! That'd be like being rude to... to yourself!"

Before the scuffle could continue, Jamie kicked the door. It made a massive clang, drawing everyone's attention towards him on the other side of the rooms.

"I dinnae any idea what your goin' on about, either o' you, but I think gettin' out of here's probably a bit more important, aye?" he said, focusing his words on Sam and Rose.

"Aye-aye!" Jack grinned, giving a mock salute. "I think first we'd better try to figure out where they've put the Doctors."

"Shouldn't we try something a bit more straightforward like, I don't know, escaping?" Peri asked him.

"I figured that was a given. And we don't want to do so without a plan - this one time, I was on Mandolox III and I somehow -"

"- Oh believe me, you do not want to hear this story," Rose muttered.

"I want to hear it," said Sam, partially out of interest and partially just to be contrary.

"Nah," Jack said, "Rose's right on a different account, we just don't have time."

"Well we're not achieving much with what we've got..." Peri said, glancing around.

Jack motioned for everyone to move closer. "Here's my plan," he said. "We figure out where they're holding the Doctors, prior to escaping, then, we -"

There was a knock at the door, causing everyone to raise their eyebrows. It wasn't exactly as if they could open it.

"Come in!" Jack said jauntily, hoping it, whatever it meant, was a good thing. If nothing else, his humor never got him into trouble.

Okay, that was a lie, but he'd clearly always made it out alive...

There was a clicking of the lock, and the Eighth Doctor's face appeared as the door swung open.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" he grinned.

"No, we were just talking about you," Jack teased, somewhat truthfully.

"Excellent," Eight said obliviously. "Now, all you, do come out. There's been something of a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding?" Zoe asked as they filed back out the cell door.

"Seems we're not under arrest after all," Eight said. "In fact our assistance has been asked. I'm listening to some plans right now, so I sent me to fetch you all... oh dear, that didn't come out quite right, did it?"

"Meaning understood," Sam smiled. "The other Doctors are waiting for us then?"

"Yes, I'll try to explain it all on the way."

* * *

**A/N: **May I first apologize to you all for the unexpected hiatus! My internet access was more limited than expected, unfortunately, meaning I've got quite a lot of catching up to do. I still intend, however, to be all up-to-date before the end of the month for the sake of the countdown, if nothing else, so don't be surprised if multiple chapters come up in a day for a bit.

Another order of business - I wanted to do a recap, seeing as it's been a little while, but I've realized just how difficult that is with the Doctors all over the place. I'd rather not refer to them as the boring "Team 1", "Team 2", and "Team 3" I have in my notes, so if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them. Purely for the sake of fun. :3

As of now though, they are as follows:

Team 1 - One, Eleven, Seven, Amy, Barbara, Rory, Ian, Susan, and Ace; currently talking to a mysterious stranger at a medieval tournament.

Team 2 - Six, Two, Eight, Nine, Rose, Sam, Zoe, Peri, Jack, and Jamie; their adventures are up to date with this chapter.

Team 3 - Ten, Five, Four, Three, K-9, Martha, Romana, Tegan, Sarah Jane, Nyssa, and Adric; currently exploring an aquatic research base on another planet that seems to be experiencing some difficulties. The latter three have, unsurprisingly, wandered off...

Thanks for reading, reviewing, and following, everyone! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it, or how happy reading what you've enjoyed makes me. And to start the ceremonies off again - It's October 21st, 33 days until the 50th!


	8. Chapter 8 - Joust In Case

Chapter 8 - Joust In Case...

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Doctor Who, but I typed this whole chapter whilst wrapped in a sheet and found it somewhat regretful that Eight doesn't even appear in this chapter.

I also thought that was relevant for some reason. Carry on...

* * *

"Well this isn't what I was expecting," Ace muttered as she leaned on the wooden fence in front of her. At her side, Susan looked at her curiously.

"What were you expecting?" she asked.

"Something a bit more exciting, for one thing," Ace replied. "What with the knights and all."

It turned out that their mysterious acquaintance was of a sufficiently higher status than first expected. Sir Percival Albert Worthington, as he finally introduced himself, was in fact a competitor in these very games. Consequently, his request for their assistance was related to training possibilities - he'd been needing some helpers to assist him in his practice for the joust, and possibly serve as seconds in case of an injury.

Unfortunately, Sir Percival's idea of help meant Ian, Rory, Eleven, and Seven rather exclusively. The others had been directed to his tent, and rather condescendingly been told to wait. So whilst Amy and Barbara had vanished off to who knows where under the premonition that they were "ladies of the court", and Susan wondered what exactly her grandfather was up to, the two youngest - given of course, aging rates proportional to their species - and distinctly female companions found themselves fairly restricted in their opportunities for exploration.

"I suppose so," Susan agreed. "This isn't terribly interesting."

"Terribly interesting? It's downright mind-dulling. What say we try to have a look around?"

"Well the knight at the door requested that we shouldn't leave..."

"And you're going to listen to him?"

Susan grinned mischeiviously at Ace. Of course they weren't

Across the camp, the "helpers" were quite probably wishing they could testify to the girls' predicament. Jousting was a treacherous exercise to anyone who participated in the first place; much more so the people who had no idea what they were doing.

No matter what they claimed.

"I've done a joust before," Eleven proclaimed happily, narrowly dodging the end of a waving lance as a nearby page lifted it up. "Only the horse didn't like me much. That made things rather difficult, especially seeing as I ended up on the ground."

"Is it really jousting, then?" asked Rory.

"Well, I didn't skewer myself with the pointy part, so I count it a success."

"If that's your definition of success," Ian commented, "I'm not so sure we're equipped to win this."

As if on cue, there was an undignified _thud _from the field behind them that caused the three to turn around. Seven had, for some as-of-yet unexplained reason, also proceeded to end up on the ground. Apparently the practice joust for Sir Percival was not a success. Perhaps it was a lack of talent shared by all their incarnations.

"You there," shouted Sir Percival from his horse, pointing at Eleven, "perhaps yo could help me, boy. Switch places."

"But that means I'll have to wear the armor!" Eleven complained. "It's all uncomfortable and clanky and boring-colored."

Ian and Rory exchanged nervous glances. If it came down to them, they were going to get creamed.

Having snuck out the conspicuously unguarded back flap of the tent, behind the open terrace they'd been conversing on, Susan and Ace made their way through the tournament camp. There was movement everywhere, causing Susan to constantly look one place, then another, and resist the temptation to wander towards a particularly interesting-looking location to avoid getting lost. Ace, however had eyes for only one location.

"The armory," she said, thinking aloud, "swords and everything. Shouldn't they have one of those here? Might come in handy later if we find trouble."

"We always seem to find trouble," Susan said.

"Exactly."

"Oh look!" Susan said, pointing to an open field with several moving figures. They were nearing the end of the western side of the camp. "It's Ian and the two other Grandfathers and... oh, what's his name?"

"How come they get to joust?" Ace said, sounding disappointed.

"Oh, let's go see!" Susan said.

They followed a narrow path hidden under the shelter of a nearby hill down to the practice area, only to hear an awful _clang-thud. _

_"_I'm alright!" Eleven shouted, his voice ringing easily through the crisp air.

"Oh, they're in trouble," Ace was about to mutter as she peeked over some barrels next to the barrier that hid their presence from the arena's view. But someone else beat her to it.

"Looks like Sir Percival's in... trouble," a low voice said from several feet away, across the fence.

Susan looked at Ace, who quickly ducked her head down so they could eavesdrop more effectively.

"Wasn't he already?" another voice said. "Seeing as we've rooted him out?"

"Well, he was taking his chances, but now he hasn't even got a shot at the joust. I say we remove him before he embarrasses himself."

"Hasn't he already?"

"Any more, my friend, any more."

"When shall we act?"

"Oh, not today. Tomorrow, I think."

"Tomorrow?"

"Catch him off guard. We'll have him then - no more tournament rules broken, and the games will be safe."

"I'll make the arrangements."

"Very well. I'll speak to the... sponsors."

The sound of receding footsteps saw the two girls, who'd been staring at each other in growing concern, peek slightly above the barrels. Only the silhouettes of two men could be seen.

"Something tells me our acquaintances might be rather questionable," Susan fretted.

"You can say that again," Ace groaned.

* * *

**A/N: **I really don't have much to say... bit of a stressful day on my end. But once again thanks for your responses, everyone! Appreciated as always. It's October 22nd... 32 days until the 50th!


	9. Chapter 9 - Light Snacks

Chapter 9 - Light Snacks

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Doctor Who, but that's only because I'm to lazy to invade the BBC offices right now. Perhaps some other day...

* * *

"This isn't any better than before," Adric whined as he, Nyssa, and Sarah Jane made their way down a suprisingly empty corridor of the research base. The red lights from earlier were still flashing, giving an altogether disconcerting look to the area.

"Shhh," Nyssa hushed, wary of the fact that their trio might not be welcome everywhere. Sarah Jane remained focused on their surroundings, looking for anything that seemed a promising place to start their investigations.

"There," she said, pointing to a side door. "That plaque on the side says that's a secondary electricity unit."

"So?" Adric asked.

"So they command center or whoever they are on the communications system said that there was a problem with the power lines! Perhaps we can find out more."

Nyssa nodded, stepping carefully towards the door and turning the handle. She poked her head inside. "Anybody here?"

A flustered young brunette woman in a lab coat looked up from a desk inside, where she was poring over a screen of scrolling numbers.

"Hello, you're...oh!" She looked very surprised. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "The breach alert is on, all unauthorized personnel are supposed to... well, they're not supposed to be here!"

"Who said anything about unauthorized?" Sarah Jane bluffed, attempting to remember some of the details of the instructions Mike had been given. "We've been sent to check on corridors, erm... 15 through 17?"

The young technician looked skeptical, but glanced down at the readouts below her.

"You seem to know what you're talking about..." she said, sounding mildly confused. "But how?"

"Do you have the status updates or not?" Sarah Jane pushed.

"They're right here," the young lady said carefully. "But..."

"But what?" Adric asked.

"Well, I can't make head or tail of them. It looks like there was a massive power surge before it cut out, and it could only have derived from usage. _Massive_ amounts of it. Nobody on the station's using that kind of energy."

Sarah Jane looked hesitantly at the other two companions, then decided to take a chance.

"What would you say," she asked, "if we said we were interested in that sort of event? Something unusual, I mean?"

"You're not authorized personnel at all," the girl sighed. "are you?"

"No, but that doesn't mean we're not as interested as you are, um..." Sarah Jane fished for a name.

"Michelle. I don't know if I want to be, though," she said. "Something's not right - getting mixed up in it might not be the best idea."

"Really?" said Sarah Jane. "Because getting mixed up in things is what _we_ do best."

/

"So when they say there's been a breach alert," asked Three, "what exactly is it that's been breached?"

Mike looked hesitant, but ultimately saw no reason not to answer the question. "The perimeter," he said. "There are some pretty unfriendly creatures in the water around here, and we have to use an energy shield to keep them out. But no power in certain parts means... well..."

"Means they can get in?" Martha asked.

Mike nodded glumly. "_That's _a breach."

"What sort of creatures are we talking about?" grinned Ten, the gleam in his eyes growing at the thought of big, exciting things running amok. He was a little too fond of that for anyone's good. "Big? Small? Furry? Scaly? Ugly? Smell like rotten cheese? Tiny swimming elephants - oh, now that'd be brilliant, wouldn't it? Can you imagine?"

"I'd expect something big enough to do _that_," muttered Tegan, pointing some ways in front of them. Despite the distance, they could clearly see some horrendous damage to the doorframe.

"That's the machine room!" Mike said frantically. "If they got in there..."

Ten bounded over to the doorway, followed by the other Doctors. He whipped out his glasses, an action unintentionally mirrored by Five - which only caused the later incarnation to grin wildly.

"It looks torn along the edge," Five remarked. "Something possessing great force ripped a piece out of the frame!"

"Affirmative," chirped K-9, scanning the hole. "Force was applied from both sides, not unlike a clamp."

"Now why would a monster do that?" Three mused.

"Fancied a snack, probably," said Four. "Terrible taste, though."

"Was that a pun?" Tegan groaned.

"Maybe it was and maybe it wasn't," Four said cryptically.

"Well you're right about one thing either way," Ten said, pulling of his glasses with one hand and running the other backwards through his hair.

"What's that?" Romana asked.

"These are bite marks."

They all turned to stare at the gaping hole in the side of the door, which was nearly the size of K-9.

"...I'd hate to see the size of it if that's the mouth," Martha said.

/

"Did you hear something?" Adric asked impatiently. He was sitting on the desk as the girls pored over figures, attempting to find a pattern in previous surge dates.

"We're in a room full of computers, Adric," Nyssa said pointedly. "They're all making noise."

"No, it was lower than that," he insisted.

All four inhabitants of the room paused their motion to listen.

"I don't hear anything," said Sarah Jane.

"Perhaps it was the comm?" Michelle asked, noting the still-flashing breach lights. They all went back to their previous activities, Adric hopping down to have a look at their numbers himself. There was a sudden crash, causing them all to look at each other with concern.

"I told you I heard something!" Adric hissed.

Slowly, they turned to face the doorway, where their backs had faced previously.

In the once-empty space hulked a massive Plesiosaur-remniscient beast, dripping wet and baring sharp, protruding teeth in their direction. It gave a noise similar to a growl.

"Right. Computers," Adric muttered.

* * *

**A/N: **I just want to give some recognition to the fact that this is now my most-followed story - I'm so grateful to you all! Little other news, but I'm still plotting away so conjecture to your hearts' content! 31 days to the 50th...


	10. Chapter 10 - There, Out In the Darkness

Chapter 10 - There, Out In the Darkness

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Doctor Who, or even anything else 50 years old...

* * *

Fortunately, Eight's summary of the situation was a brief one. They'd landed the TARDIS on an alien world in the midst of a civil war. A rebel faction was attempting to overthrow the increasingly controlling governmental power that was heading down a path that sounded altogether too Orwellian to be a good idea in the first place. They'd been captured by rebel scouts who'd mistakenly assumed them to be spies of this government. Seeing as this wasn't quite true, things were already clearing up a bit.

"They were that quick to trust you?" Jack asked, a little incredulously, as they arrived at the end of the final corridor. There was a large door waiting for them.

"That, and certain mes have a rather overbearing sort of diplomacy," Eight said tactfully, opening the door and motioning for them to enter. Peri simply rolled her eyes.

They were greeted by Nine's shouting.

"_Absolutely_ not!"

The blonde lady they'd met earlier merely raised an eyebrow and overall seemed unfazed. She turned to look at the newly-entered companions. "Sorry about all that," she said, "now that we're on better terms, I believe some introductions are in order. Call me Tyyra."

"What's this I'm vetoing?" Eight asked before the companions could return her greeting. He looked at Nine with concern.

"I've merely been asking for your party's assistance," Tyyra said calmly, ignoring the strange pronoun usage. "Apparently the idea didn't go over well."

"We are _not," _Nine said firmly, "going out there. Especially not of they're involved," he added, motioning to the companions.

"Going out where, exactly?" Peri asked.

"That's what your friend here doesn't seem to understand," Tyyra said, sounding exasperated. "I've merely asked if a couple of you can help us with scouting for a project of ours and he's apparently vehemently opposed to the idea.

"Because I don't want anyone involved in it," Nine said, arms folded.

"What even is this plan?" Jack inquired.

"As non-violent as possible," Tyyra said, cuing nods of respect from all the Doctors but Nine. "Our goal is to demobilize the central transportation and communication networks of the capital, about a half a mile from here. With both crippled, the expectation is that the people of the city will take advantage of the situation and a coup will be relatively quick, simple, and involve few if any losses."

"And you already have the means to do this?" Eight asked. Tyyra nodded. "Well I don't see anything inherently wrong with it..."

"Seems a rather clever solution, actually," Two added.

"I'd be happy to help," Jack said. "You said you needed scouts?"

"_No_, Jack," Nine protested.

"Well I don't see why-"

"-what part of_ civil war_ don't you understand?" he continued. "People die in wars. You're not gettin' out of this without that."

"Well let me assure you," Tyyra said coldly, "that no one's getting out of anywhere unless you prove we can trust you."

"Was that a threat?" Six huffed.

"Only if it needs to be. And let me assure you - it can be."

Nine looked hesitantly at Jack, Rose, and the other companions, then to Tyyra. "One night?" he asked.

"One night," she assured.

"Only because you're short-staffed?"

"Only because we're short staffed."

"And who goes with him?"

"We'd like to keep you four," Tyrra pointed to the Doctors, "here for security reasons - I'm not sure you're yet in the clear. The rest of you are free to choose amongst yourselves the other volunteer."

"I'll go," Sam and Jamie offered simultaneously.

"Och, I couldn't let you instead," Jamie said to her.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Your chivalry is both antiquated and seriously misplaced."

"If it's all the same, I'd feel much better goin' myself," Jamie said graciously.

Sam looked as if she was about to comment, but Eight gave her a pointed look. Instead she simply sighed. "If you insist," she said.

Jack grinned. "Well all I can say is I've never had a bad time with a man in a skirt."

Nine groaned.

/

As the scouting party set out, Jack and Jamie in tow and bringing up the rear, the others found themselves facing a sudden feeling of uselessnes. No task appeared to require their intentions, leading the Doctors to wonder if the base was truly short-staffed, or if their companions had left on what was merely a promise of collateral.

That night, as they were directed to sparsely decorated and distinctly metallic-looking sleeping quarters, it was hard to keep uneasy feelings at bay.

Something wasn't right.

Something was waiting.

* * *

**A/N: **This chapter's rather short, due to some shuffling around in my plot that really turned it into filler more than anything else. Filler and establishing where characters need to be when the action hits... Things should resume their normal pace again rather quickly - after all, we're at 30 days to the 50th!


	11. Chapter 11 - Coincidences

Chapter 11 - Coincidences

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who, I just like playing with it. :D

* * *

The monster in the doorway growled.

"Don't just stand there!" Sarah Jane shouted. As she did so, the beast extended its long neck in their direction, thrashing and snarling as it drew closer. She stepped to the right, pulling Adric out of the way with her. Michelle and Nyssa leaned right. The creature, not knowing which was to pursue its prey, didn't turn to either side and unintentionally slammed its face into a cabinet. As its frustrated snarls emieated from inside, the head having broken through, the four of them made a beeline for the door and dashed down the hall, the red warning lights seeming significantly fitting given their frenetic pace.

"What was that?" Nyssa panted.

"One of the creatures that lives near the base," Michelle tried to explain, resisting the urge to look back as another roar was heard and it became clear they were being pursued. "That's what these lights are for."

"The breach?" Adric asked. She nodded back.

"That's one word for it," Sarah Jane said. The creature saw fit to roar at that exact moment, causing all four to jump slightly and pick up the pace.

"So what's our plan?" Nyssa asked. "We can't just keep running!"

"Are there any more secure labs?" Sarah Jane asked Michelle. The young technician thought for a moment.

"I know of one off this hall - used for testing purposes, so the doors are reinforced - but it's still a ways down."

The creature roared again.

"I'm not sure we have any choice but to aim for it," Sarah Jane muttered, panting slightly herself.

/

The others, having thoroughly examined the damage to the doorframe, ventured into the machine room. Mike was a nervous wreck, frantically searching the area to see if the beast remained inside. When it proved to have moved on (somewhat to Ten's dismay...), he applied the same neurotic energy towards examining the damage.

"It's torn out one of the power couplings!" he wailed. "Not to mention the cracked monitors and the smashed data crystals and-"

"-are we to assume that you need assistance in remedying that?" Three asked, already carefully looking over a cracked monitor to read the display. Mike nodded glumly.

"Just to get things in order..." he said quietly.

The Doctors and companions busied themselves, K-9 proving instrumental in destroying one or two large chunks of debris hindering their progress, a process headed up by Four and Romana. Martha and Tegan took to straightening some of the tables circling the outskirts of the room, occasionally dodging Five (who was more interested in seeing what was _on _them). Ten and Three joined Mike at the shattered coupling, debating how best to make use of the frayed wires that had been stressed by the force of the beast's pulling on them.

Just as they were beginning to make sense of the carnage, Five gave an excited squeaking noise. Everyone's heads swiveled in his direction.

"I've found the reason for your power outage," he said excitedly. "A power surge beforehand caused the circuits to short out - someone was operating something that used a _massive _amount of energy!"

"But we don't have anything on the station that uses that much power!" Mike said.

"And yet it happened all the same," said Four. "I trust my own judgement. Five may not be me, but he is _me._ Consequently, I think he's onto something."

"Is there any way to track the source?" Tegan asked. "See where all that energy came from?"

Five fiddled with the monitor a bit, frowning, poking the screen, frowning more and jabbing his finger into it with frustration, and then broke into a grin once more.

"Yes, yes, right here!" he said. "I've found it!"

"Brilliant!" Ten said in a somewhat-awed sounding voice.

"Where's the archive located?" Five asked Mike.

"The archives?" Mike said. "No one ever goes into the archives!"

"Making it the perfect place to put something you don't want anyone to see," Romana said.

"Find out what's been being hidden there and we find our mysterious perpetrator, I'm sure," said Three.

"So what are we waiting for?" Martha said. Ten smiled at her and pointed in the air. "To the archives!" he said triumphantly.

/

The quartet on the run skidded to a halt as Michelle weakly shouted "There!" Breathing heavily, they all exchanged relieved glances before being interrupted by yet another roar.

"It's very vocal..." Sarah Jane said, a bit sarcastically. She pushed on the door, hoping to get in.

It didn't budge.

"Is it locked?" she asked Michelle with concern. The technician looked at her concernedly.

"Yes, I think so - there's a retina recognition program that should let us get it open somewhere- if we can find it. I know I'm in the system."

"What does it look like?" Nyssa asked frantically. They all stared at the bland grey metallic door before them. No part of it resembled a scanner in the slightest.

"What do we do now?" Adric asked.

"We force it!" Sarah Jane said with determination, pulling back before ramming the door with her shoulder.

Nothing happened.

"We're trapped!" Michelle said, eyes wide with fear. Sarah Jane just nursed her shoulder.

"There has to be something we can do!" Nyssa said with concern.

"I don't have the authorization! Granted we could always keep running, but-"

Michelle was cut off by a tinny metallic voice just as the beast came into view, still roaring as it rounded the corner about 30 feet down the hall. "-Authorization Granted," it intoned. "Password correct. Identified as Michelle Davis, intern."

The door clicked open.

"It was that simple?" Sarah Jane asked as they rushed inside. Michelle looked sheepish.

"I didn't know there was a verbal password, too," she said. "I only said that on accident!"

"How do we close it?" Adric shouted. They all looked at each other, clearly not having thought of this. There was no clear means.

"Authorization... complete!" Michelle muttered. "Authorization terminated! Authorization ended!"

There was no response.

"I'm going to get killed by a dinosaur," Sarah Jane said in disbelief. "This is ridiculous."

"_No one_ is getting killed by dinosaurs!" Adric shouted incredibly ironically, spreading his arms out and pushing the girls back away from the door. What would the Doctor do in a situation like this? His mind raced. "Can we stall it?"

Suddenly, anti-climactically, the doors hissed sheet, the creature only mere feet from stepping inside.

"Authentication timed out," said the tinny voice. The Michelle and the companions looked at each other, relieved and somewhat disbelieving.

"That was lucky," Nyssa said.

"I suppose," Michelle replied nervously. She looked around. The beast roared at the door, a loud crash filling the room as it tried the same technique as Sarah Jane. "But now we're trapped!"

* * *

**A/N: **Hello, readers! 29 days to the 50th...


	12. Chapter 12 - Dark and Stormy Knights

Chapter 12 - Dark and Stormy Knights

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who, but I'm immensely happy to be a fan of it.

* * *

"How do I look?" Amy said, posing. She'd picked up a large, ostentatious hat of some sort with a black veil that proceeded to fall in her face once she let go of it. Barbara laughed.

"That bad?" Amy asked.

"No, no, you're just wearing it backwards, here," she said, turning to adjust it. "Now you look lovely."

"Lady Pond," Amy said sarcastically.

The two of them had wandered around in Lord Percival's magnificent tent, exploring things here and there and ultimately coming across a surprisingly vast array of clothing. Apparently someone liked keeping up appearances. It also, however, begged for costume-related attention.

"Hmm..." Barbara said, examining a different hat. "I feel as though this one should be worn, but I've grown rather fond of the one I'm wearing now." She offered it towards Amy.

"Just give it to the Doctor, he'll wear it," Amy said, frowning and adjusting her own again.

Barbara looked surprised and set it down. "I don't believe he would!"

Amy thought for a moment, confused, then smirked. "My Doctor would," she said. "He has a thing for hats."

Barbara smiled, shaking her head. "He seems like he would, I suppose. He's just so... young. But you say he's the oldest of them all?"

"So he says, at least," Amy said, setting down the hat. "I've heard him toss around the number eleven enough."

"Eleven," Barbara said, shaking her head. "I didn't even know he could be two people."

"Hm, that I can, my dear," One said, pushing aside the curtain that marked the entrance of the makeshift room. Amy and Barbara looked at him in slight indignation.

"Oh, ne, I haven't been listening in, just thought I'd see how you were doing," he said, smiling. "I don't believe I caught your name, Miss..."

"Amy," she said. "Amy Pond."

"Quite lovely. I look forward to meeting you in earnest, however far in my future that may be. As for being my eleventh self... well, it's inevitable, I suppose."

Amy smirked. "Oh, he's not so bad. You'll just have to get used to it."

"Plenty of time, I suppose..." Barbara said, trying to sound as flippant as Amy but still coming off a bit unnerved.

"Hm... yes," One mused. "Not exactly the direction I saw myself going, but I suppose these gentlemen - myselves, that is - aren't a complete disappointment."

"Didn't think you'd turn out that way?" Amy asked. "What were you planning?"

One looked thoughtful. "You know, my dear girl, I hadn't really given it much thought. Just thought I knew what I wasn't."

Amy exhaled loudly, nodding in agreement "Know how that feels," she said.

"And what did you do about it?" One asked her, the hint of a smile playing across his features.

"I ran away."

One shook his head, smiling in full now, and gave a slight chuckle. "Do you know? I think I know why me likes you."

Amy smiled, about to respond, when there was a noise from the front of the tent, a sort of crashing and clinking that sounded altogether uncoordinated and probably painful.

"Doorframe!" came Seven voice, shouting gleefully, while Eleven gave a disgruntled "Tents... why did it have to be tents."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "Speak of the devil."

"Oh dear, it sounds as though they'll be needing some assistance," Barbara sighed, beginning to make her way towards the front.

The scene that greeted them was one of disorganized chaos. Eleven, clad in an armoured suit, had gotten his knee joint stuck in the velvety purple curtains that marked the entrance to the tent. Ian was attempting to disentangle him, and to their right was Rory, holding what appeared to be the corresponding suit's helmet and looking somewhat concerned. Seven stood off to the side unhelpfully, stifling his laughter rather badly.

"Doctor!" Amy admonished.

"Hello, Amy!" he said cheerfully as he was slowly flipped upside-down by Ian's careful examination.

"What did you do?" she asked.

"Well I appear to be in a bit of a situation. It's not easy adjusting to the knightlife, you know,"

Seven chuckled "Oh, I don't know, I think it's our crowning achievement."

"Well it'll cause me some sleepless knights..."

"You'd go so far as to say it's a royal pain?"

"They've been like this all afternoon..." Rory groaned.

"We're in medieval France," Seven said, "pun resistance is feudal!"

"Oh, that was a good one!" Eleven exclaimed, just before crashing to the ground as Ian finally freed him.

One simply shook his head, still confused by the rather incorrigible behaviour of his future selves. Before anyone else could comment, however, there came a loud shouting from over the ridge as the two missing members of their party came running over the ridge.

"Grandfather!"

"Professor! _Professor!_"

"What is it?" all three Doctors said simultaneously, sounding similarly taken aback.

The girls, panting, stopped for a moment.

"Grandfather, why are you on the ground?" Susan asked, looking at Eleven.

"That's not important," Seven said quickly. "Ace, what's the matter?"

"We were over by the jousting field, watching you," she began quickly, "but there were these other knights and they're plotting something - I don't know what - but something and it involves Sir Percival and-"

"Slow down, dear girl!" One admonished. "No one ever got anything across properly by driving themselves into a tizzy, hm?"

"I'm not... tizzy-ing," Ace said, insulted. "I'm just trying to tell you because it sounded important."

"She's right," Susan added, "it sounds as though we may be in danger."

"Aren't we always?" Rory sighed.

"Something's wrong, I just know it!" Ace shouted.

"There was always a bit of rivalry at these sort of tournaments," Seven said patronizingly. Ace whirled around to face him, looking betrayed.

"Professor!" she said. "I swear, there's something serious going on here!"

"Do you recall what exactly they said?" One asked.

Susan and Ace looked at each other, a bit sheepish. In their rush neither had thought to specifically note what they'd overheard.

"No," Ace admitted, "but it wasn't good."

"And what do you propose we do about it?" One asked.

"Well... investigate it or something!" Ace said. "That's what we usually do, isn't it?"

"Actually it typically involves more stumbling than investigating but all the same..." Eleven trailed off.

"Aren't we going to do something, Grandfather?" Susan asked.

"I don't see what there is to 'do' in the first place," Seven said. "We've got bigger concerns right now."

"Bigger!" Ace shouted. "_Bigger?_ You're not even listening to us! Something's not right about this whole tournament and you're just concerned with winning it!"

"If I may," Ian interrupted, "Yes, perhaps something's not right, but I think the best means of 'investigating' would indeed involve winning. Get access to the higher-ups at the champions banquet and such."

"So you're just going to ignore us?" Ace said, still angry.

Seven looked at her pleadingly, hoping she could be convinced that wasn't exactly their intent.

But she was having none of it. "If you're not going to help us, we'll do it ourselves. Come on, Susan!" she said, turning her back on the group and storming off.

"Ace, come back!" Seven said. She kept walking. Susan looked hesitantly at the face of each of her grandfather's regenerations, then back at Ace. She turned her face towards the ground, blushing.

"I'll be with Ace," she said quickly, then scurried after the human girl looking a bit like a frightened rabbit.

The Doctors and older companions looked at the retreating figures with concern. No one said a word.

"Should someone go get them?" Ian asked.

"Let them go," Seven said quietly. "Perhaps this will all sort itself out."

"Oh, that's a good attitude. You could have tried listening," Amy said indignantly.

"Why do I feel as though we're making a terrible mistake?" One asked, resting his chin on his intertwined fingers.

No one had an answer.

* * *

**A/N: **Yes, I'm back! And with a planned update schedule (of sorts). Life has gotten me a bit behind but now it's November and NaNoWriMo has kicked in. Expect a bit more regularity and a couple double-chapter days to catch us up. All should work out rather soon - and we've only got 22 days to the 50th!


	13. Chapter 13 - Nothing Changes

Chapter 13 - Nothing Changes

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Doctor Who, but sometimes I swear it owns me...

* * *

When Rose awoke the next morning, she didn't particularly feel like staying in bed. She and the other female companions had been sent to a room by themselves, in what was apparently the rebels' girl's dormitory.

She looked over at the other girls' sleeping forms, wondering if it would be proper of her to wake someone to let them know she was going to wander about. The thought managed to entertain itself for a good second before she held in a laugh about it and slipped her shoes on.

Carefully, so as not to make much noise for fear of waking one of the others, she tiptoed out of the room and into the corridor. The metallic chill of the complex struck her almost immediately, causing her to zip up her jacket and shiver slightly. Absent-mindedly, she wondered where exactly she was planning on going. One thing was for sure - she hadn't run off with the Doctor to sit in a bedroom.

...Where was the Doctor?

/

Nine had asked, almost immediately after they were shown their rooms, if there wasn't any place in the complex where he could step outside or even have a window. Even more so than his other selves, he hated feeling trapped. Unfortunately, the answer had been a resounding "no" and he could feel himself itching to get outside rather quickly. Which was why, as soon as morning began to dawn on the Doctors sleepless night (as none of them were truly in need of any rest at the moment, in contrast to their human companions), he had slipped away quietly and headed towards the entrance to the complex. Pleased to find it granted him access to leave, he stepped out into the early morning of the alien world.

Now, about an hour later, he leaned against a broken, rusted railing, about 30 or 40 feet to the right of the door. Below it, he could see the entire expanse of the city they were to bring to its knees that day. He sighed deeply, feeling no more comfortable with the idea of him - or anyone - being back on a battlefield anytime soon. Because they were wrong. That's what it - what all this - was going to turn into. He'd seen too fighting to accept that other methods of conflict resolution could be truly effective. Maybe for a moment, even a couple years, but if a storm was coming, it was coming.

He could tell it would happen here too.

/

Rose carefully peeked around a corner, feeling a bit self-conscious in her very clearly civilian dress. She'd received several nods from others in the base, all in their practical military dress, and it was starting to worry her. This didn't seem like the friendliest environment after all. And where was the Doctor? She'd run into his second self already, impatiently bouncing around and asking if there'd been any news from the patrol last night and if they were back yet and was there a Scottish boy with them, which had merely prompted questions about where Scotland was from the confused non-Earth dwellers. He'd given her a nod, smiling, but when she asked him where her Doctor was the only response was something vague about "slipping out".

_Slipping out..._ she wondered... maybe he'd stepped outside? Sounded like him, at the least. If only she'd remembered where the entrance was, that would certainly help.

Maybe that big sign above her loudly displaying the words "Complex Exit" would help.

It was so obvious, she felt like rolling her eyes. "Not very top-secret," she hissed to the sign. "Are you?"

In any case, it was helpful. She noted the arrow facing to her right, and modified her course accordingly.

It wasn't long before the chosen path lead her to the familiar large, open room with the entrance (and, she supposed, exit) at the end. Rose looked to her left, then her right, feeling slightly apprehensive, then wandered over to the keypad.

"C'mon," she muttered, laying her hand on the keypad. "Gimme access, gimme access, gimme,"

"ACCESS GRANTED" the door said anti-climactically.

_Well, they got us into the system quick_, she thought as the door opened with a hiss.

Sure enough, the lone figure of the Doctor was waiting outside. She shivered slightly as a morning breeze passed her by, and wrapped her jacket tighter as she walked towards him.

"The sunrise's lovely, don't you think?" he said quietly as she approached.

Rose shook her head, of course he knew she was coming. "Yes," she said, leaning next to him on the railing. "Good morning to you too."

He gave a slight breath, but otherwise disacknowledged her greeting, continuing to stare out into space.

"How'd you sleep?" Rose prompted.

"Didn't."

"Right."

They stared in silence a moment longer. Rose was getting frustrated already.

"You alright?" she asked, turning to him. He shrugged.

"Worried about Jack?" she continued.

"Jack can take care of himself."

"That Scottish bloke, then?"

"Jamie can too."

"Then what's eating you?

Nine breathed deeply again, turning to face Rose. "Have you ever seen something, done something... even heard something, and that something was so big it changed your perception of everything like it?"

"You mean made you paranoid or something?"

Nine's eyes looked accusatory, but his nod betrayed some agreement at her phrasing.

"Well this one time my mum explained to me about being careful around strangers. I was awfully little... got pretty scared. 'Course I figured out later she's not always right," she said, giving him a playful elbow to the side. He gave a little smile back.

"So yeah I guess maybe I know what you mean but... no, I don't do I? What are you saying?"

"We'll just say I did something," he said sadly. "An' now I can't look at anything the same."

"Think you might be wrong sometimes too?" Rose asked carefully.

He gave her a rueful smile. "I hope so, Rose Tyler, I hope so."

There was a sudden hiss-click as the doors behind them opened. They both whirled around at the noise, assuming unnecessarily defensive poses.

The hesitant figure of Eight, evident in the now-full morning light, jumped slightly, taken aback, and blinking in the glare of the outdoors.

"Yes?" Nine asked, sounding annoyed. He gave his earlier self a cold look.

"There you are!" Eight said. "We've been looking all over! Two thought you might have headed out, I suppose now I'll have to tell him he was right..."

"What do you want?" Nine asked. There was still an edge to his voice.

"They're calling a meeting inside, looks like the scout party got back and-"

"-got back?" Nine asked. "When? I've been out here all morning."

"Another entrance?" Eight offered, sounding unsure himself.

Nine shrugged. "Yeah, we're coming," he said. "Give us a moment."

Eight nodded, then dashed back inside. As soon as he vanished, Rose looked back at her Doctor, pieces starting to fall into place.

"When you say you did something..." she said carefully... "You don't mean _you_ you, do you? It could be any of these 'you's we've met."

"Rose..." Nine warned.

"...he's the one right before you, isn't he? He did something. But what did he-"

"-We're going inside, Rose," Nine said firmly, lifting himself from the railing and heading in the direction of the door. She followed hesitantly, wondering if she should ever continue this inquiry.

/

Jack Harkness was rarely one to admit he was intimidated. But the scouting expedition last night hadn't left him with his typically inflated ego; if anything, it had deconstructed it.

They were up against terrible odds. "Deactivating the generator" sounded easy enough as a plan, but it was immensely complicated. There were power stations all across the city, each and every one of which the scouting party had meticulously checked to ensure the necessary tech was in order. Jack had felt rather useless the whole time, merely there to stand sentry as the technicians did their work.

In those moments, he had taken the liberty of talking a bit with Jamie. The young Scot had seemed nice enough, and in conversation with him Jack found himself smiling on more than one occasion.

_"So when did the Doctor pick you up?" he'd asked._

_"Would you believe I dinnae ken?" Jamie admitted. "It's been a bit of a trip, an' seein' how many different times we've been to I've lost track."_

_Jack was about to refute this when he'd realized his own answer was similar. "Same," he said. "Time travel does things to you."_

_Jamie had been stunned to learn that, while human, Jack was from even further in the future than the other girl he'd showed up with, Zoe, or someone named Victoria had been._

_"Bu' that's thousands o' years!" he'd exclaimed as loudly as circumstances allowed._

_Jack chuckled. "I could say the same, but backwards."_

_"I mus' look awfully strange, then," Jamie said sadly. "I know I'm not as good wi' machines and such already."_

_"Heck, that's not important," Jack said. "You don't need to understand computers or vortex manupulators or even TARDISes to get out of a mess. Once I escaped a prison on Lapurnum V using a piece of string and a bottle of vodka. Creatively."_

_Jamie had looked confused, but accepted the answer with something that appeared to be pride._

Back at HQ, Jack smiled at the memory. He wasn't sure if it was Jamie's naevity or another equally endearing quality, but something had already made his protective instincts kick in. Which probably explained why he was allowing Jamie to fall asleep on his shoulder as they awaited the next briefing.

His snooze was interrupted by the clang of the door to the room and the Second Doctor's subsequent shout of "Jamie!" as he and his Sixth self filed in.

"Wha?" the subject of the exclamation said sleepily as he raised his head. "Oh, hello Doctor."

"Hello? Hello?" Two said indignantly. "I've been worried about the expedition all night and I get a 'hello' when you return?"

"Erm... hello, I'm safe?" Jamie added, sitting up fully.

"And a very good thing, too," Two muttered, chancing a glance at Tyyra, who stood by the other wall.

"Good morning Doctors," Jack said cheerfully. He felt as though his existence should at least be acknowledged.

"And what, young man, is so good about it?" Six huffed, raising an eyebrow.

"Good morning, Doctors," he repeated. "And you'll be happy to know we convinced the crew to get the TARDIS back here, it's in the hangar out front." Seconds after, the door swung open as three of the ladies - Sam, Zoe, and Peri - shuffled in.

"Good morning," Peri said, and Jack raised an eyebrow back at Six with a smirk. He got a stiff-looking gaze of annoyance in response, which only triggered laughter.

"Where's the Doctor?" Sam asked. Two and Six looked at her indignantly. "_My_ Doctor I mean," she said. "What's-his-number."

"Eight," said Six indignantly, "went to go find our Ninth self."

"Yeah... where're he and Miss Know-it-all?" Sam asked, looking around. "She was gone when we woke up."

Jack gave her a meaningful look to which her only response was to burst into laughter.

"Glad to know I keep such mature company in the future," Six said, sounding annoyed. Jack was trying too hard not to have the same response as Sam - her laughter was contagious.

"I'm sorry," Sam choked, wiping an eye, "It's just...pfffft," she started up again, ultimately cueing a snort from Jack.

The door swung open for the last time a the trio in question stepped in.

"Samantha Jones," Eight said, "you are incorrigible. As for you, Captain Harkness, I haven't yet made your acquaintance but I do believe I'll find you similar."

Sam and Jack exchanged confused glances as the others entered, wondering about Eight's apparent clairvoyance. Two just rolled his eyes. "Do hurry," he said impatiently, "I don't believe we have all day."

"No, we don't" said Tyrra. "That's what I've called you here to discuss. Operation Absolute Zero goes live in 5 minutes and I wanted to ensure you knew of the specifics."

"As do we, ma'am" Jack said saluting, though he was fairly knowledgable about the plan after the stint last night.

As Tyrra explained to the Doctors and others the intricacies of the power system, Jack felt his mind begin to wander. They were an interesting collection, this crew of Doctors and companions. People from the past, people from other's futures, jokesters and enigmas and firecrackers.

He liked it.

* * *

**A/N: **Look, two chapters today! Ah, the glories of November. Still 22 days to the 50th.


	14. Chapter 14 - COUWO

Chapter 14 - Companions of Unusual Wandering Off (C.O.U.W.O)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Doctor Who, but that doesn't decrease my enjoyment of it! (...much)

* * *

"Why exactly did we want to go to the archives?" Tegan groaned as she ducked under yet another low-hanging doorway.

"Something technical," Martha sighed. "The... Doctors... seemed to think there was something suspicious."

"Oh, I got that. Let me correct the earlier statement. Why did we want to go down to the archives?"

"I told you," Mike said grumpily. "No one goes down to the archives. It's just too much trouble."

"Trouble is right," Martha sighed, also ducking. "WHo did they build these for, mice?"

"R.O.U. !" Ten shouted back gleefully. Three gave a slight chuckle.

"It'd be nice it they tried making them for people of unusual size," Martha said. "Or Time Lords."

"I happen to be rather happy with my size," Romana said, gliding through the passageways with a grace unbecoming of the situation. Even the Doctors were stumbling more than herself - which should actually probably have been somewhat unsurprising, considering their rather unconventional clothing choices. Four's scarf had miraculously avoided snagging on the metal girders surrounding them, just another mystery regarding the practically miraculous clothing article.

"So where're we headed?" asked Tegan.

"Well, given those readings Five gathered," Ten said, "forward."

"How long?"

"Who knows?" Four said, charging forward nonetheless.

"Past approximately five more main corridors, which are spaced around 53.6 meters apart, depending on the positioning of the plumbing systems," K-9 chirped.

"But you've taken all the fun out of it!" Four muttered.

"That far?" Tegan groaned. "In these conditions"

"Negative - the ceiling will lower, after we pass a second hallway, to a height of around 1.5 meters."

"You mean it gets worse?"

"Affirmative, Mistress."

Tegan groaned again. She turned to Martha. "I don't know about you," she muttered under her breath, "but I'm considering alternate routes."

"Are there any?"

"Even if there aren't it might still be more worthwhile."

The two of them looked at the eclectic receding figures of the Doctors, the patient, small one of K-9 not far behind, and the ungainly one of Mike as he struggled to match their pace. Only missing was the graceful figure of-

"-Planning on going somewhere?"asked Romana, impossibly from behind them. They jumped slightly.

"Oh, don't worry," she said, "you're terribly right, he's going about this all wrong. The Doctor, I mean."

"Do you have a better idea?" Tegan inquired.

"Not in the slightest, but this corridor looks promising," Romana said, pointing to their right. They'd reached the first of those intersections K-9 had mentioned.

Martha shrugged. "If you vote follow it, I say we follow it. Better than breaking our necks with them."

Tegan nodded. "Adric and Nyssa and... oh... that other girl had the right idea, slipping off. Don't know why we didn't take our chances with them."

"Who?" Martha asked.

"The rest of our party? That mysteriously vanished?"

Martha looked embarrassed. "Sorry... didn't really notice. Don't know names either. I guess Adric's the little boy?"

Tegan nodded. "Me neither, just them two, seeing as we've been traveling together," she confided.

Martha smiled. "Well, introductions seem in order if we're about to go charging off into the great unknown. Martha Jones."

"Tegan Jovanka."

"Romanadvoratrelundar. You can call me Fred," Romana said cryptically over her shoulder as she down their chosen path.

The two human girls looked at each other with some confusion, shaking heads and shrugging slightly, but soon followed her.

* * *

**A/N: **All the Doctors have their moments, but Ten is the undisputed king of pop culture references. Also, sorry for such a short chapter today - I had a speech tournament and I realized the story needed some reorganizing. Thanks for your patience - I still can't tell you how much I appreciate favorites/follows/reviews. And finally... 21 days to the 50th!


	15. Chapter 15 - Trouble Brewing

Chapter 14 - Trouble Brewing

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who, but that doesn't stop me from probably rather pointlessly saying so...

* * *

"The first thing we need to do," Ace was saying as she fiddled with a yet-to-be-prepped can of Nitro-9, "is figure out who those strangers we heard talking were. If we can pinpoint that... are you even listening?"

Susan shook her head, drawing herself from her daze. "Sorry," she said. "Just thinking. Do you think we did the right thing? I mean, I don't want to make Grandfather mad..."

"Susan," Ace sighed, "Don't worry about it. They'll come around."

"But will they? I always try to listen to him... well, most of the time," Susan said.

"Oh, you'll never get anywhere doing that. The Professor knows I never listen to him. And it's gotten us out of more than a few scrapes, I'll have you know," Ace replied.

"He sounds rather different, the Grandfather you know... oh, regeneration's such a mess! Not to mention... oh!" she cut herself off, giving a bit of choked noise. "Oh, I don't even want to think what happens to him."

"What happens to the Professor?"

Susan looked worried. "Ten deaths already..." she said. "It's hard enough thinking about one of them."

Ace stared at the other girl, the impact of what she was saying setting in. "You mean that's why there's so many of them? They all... oh, that's terrible!" It was awful enough to think of the nice-if-bossy old man Susan knew- and some of the others like the scruffy little dark-haired bouncy one or the friendly young blonde one with the celery - being killed, but her own Professor? She found herself already feeling mildly worse about storming off, that sense of loyalty returning by the thought of him in trouble.

Susan nodded glumly. "The Time Lords get so flippant about it sometimes, but I still can't help but think it's just awful. In any case, something bad has to happen. It's not a very Gallifreyan attitude, I guess, but... oh dear, running off with Grandfather hasn't let me stay very Gallifreyan at all."

Ace set down the can and looked back at her. "Well I say forget the Time Lords, if that's all they're good for."

Susan looked at her in surprise, then smiled slightly. "Do you know, I think I have been," she said. "Running with Grandfather can really push away the past, can't it?"

"Well" Ace said abruptly, not making eye contact any longer. "The fact remains that we have a situation on our hands, and it needs to get fixed. Any ideas where to start?"

Susan looked a bit confused at the abrupt subject change, but thought for a moment.

"They mentioned tournament officials," she said. "Maybe by finding them?"

Ace bit her lip. She hated heading to the top for information, but... on the other had... it was probably their best lead.

"Okay," she conceded, "how do you think we find them?"

/

A good half-hour to forty-five minutes later, the girls were still decidedly luckless. They'd circled the perimeter of the camp, occasionally dashing into an intriguing or promising-looking side path, asking less-preoccupied-looking people they ran into if they know where the central authorities were, and only succeeded into ending up right back where they started.

"You'd think the people in charge would be easier to find," Ace huffed. "If they're supposed to be so important. Seems suspicious."

"Well the Dark Ages weren't really known for their customer service," Susan said brightly.

"Still doesn't seem right," Ace said. "You'd think someone would have at least caught sight of the blokes in charge by now, but as far as we've heard, they haven't."

Suddenly, from not far away, came the sounds of a struggle. "And what do you think you're doing?" came an angry, accented shout.

"That sounded like Amy!" Susan said, sounding concerned.

"You mean the Scottish lady with the Professor that looks younger than I am?" Ace asked.

Susan nodded. "I think we should 'investigate' that..."

"But we decided we weren't helping them!" Ace muttered.

Susan looked at her, questioning whether or not she was seriously unintrigued by the outburst.

"Fine," said Ace. "But if it's something stupid, we're leaving again, so let's not just announce our presence. Deal?"

"Deal?"

The two dashed in the direction the scuffle appeared to be coming from, and found themselves near an unassuming but large gold and brown tent with a gathering crowd in front of it.

"This has all been a misunderstanding," One was protesting to an armed guard. Nearby, Eleven was sitting grumpily, looking for all the world like a toddler who's been caught stealing cookies. Next to him, Seven paced fretfully and Barbara stood still, apparently attempting to examine the situation. Amy was attempting to get answers a bit more loudly and equally unsuccessfully. The others were nowhere to be seen.

"Silence!" A guard whose hat had quite impressive plumage (And therefore probably indicated some sort of superiority) shouted. Everyone fell quiet. "Presenting the accused," he said, gesturing to the corridor beside the tent. Under everyone's watchful gaze, Sir Percival was marched forward. Amy groaned.

"Sir Percival, do you admit to faking your eligibility to enter the tournament?" he asked.

Their acquaintance hesitated, then hung his head. "Indeed I do," he said.

"Hey!" Amy shouted. "Might've been nice to mention that!"

Barbara shushed her.

The guard nodded. "While we review these charges and their... consequences... you and your co-conspirators will be confined to a tent, under guard. Is that clear?"

Sir Percival nodded.

"The ladies," the guard continued, "are free to go. As will be your currently non-present... squires... Now, if you four gentlemen will, come with me."

The other guards took up their places, and the three Doctors vanished in the hubbub. Amy and Barbara were slowly shunted to the side.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted.

"Doctor, what should we do?" Barbara asked simultaneously. Neither gleaned a resonse.

Of to the sides, still in hiding, Ace turned to Susan. "Looks like we found our authorities," she muttered. "I _knew_ something was up."

* * *

**A/N: **I look forward to your speculation, on both this an other plot points. Thanks again, everyone - 20 days to the 50th!


	16. Chapter 16 - Phantom Shadows

Chapter 16 - Phantom Shadows

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Doctor Who, but after the end of this chapter I feel like you might be grateful for that...

* * *

Peri was a bit ashamed to say she found the actual event of the shutdown rather anticlimactic. There'd been such a hype about it all - assorted Doctors had fretted about it and rebel leaders had whispered worries in hushed tones - and all it really came down to was pushing a couple buttons.

Now, that wasn't to say that things weren't happening all round her. They just didn't have quite the same impact one would be lead to expect from the build-up - or even, for that matter, the whole idea.

For example, Six had explained to her quickly and somewhat annoyedly that every one of the lights on the wall in front of them represented an important power station under the control of the rebels (and therefore, offline). If one of the lights were to go out, t implied it was no longer under the control of the rebel grid, and would need to be reclaimed for the plan to proceed.

...except he had said it eloquently and pompously and all she really understood was the abridged version Eight had kindly given her afterwards.

In any case, the lights meant to be activated during Phase I of the advance were all very much on, a prospect that was hardly disappointing (as it spelled good things for them and the rebel forces), but was also hardly interesting.

She could tell that the others were beginning to tire of the waiting game they now played as well. Jamie and Jack were in the middle of a very intense thumb war that didn't seem to be going anywhere. Rose was leaning against a wall impatiently drumming her fingers on her arm. Sam kept asking her Doctor irrelevant questions whose answers only ended up being even more so, seeing as Eight was hardly grounded enough to care about coherency or even being entirely factual. Two was sitting, for the time being, but fidgeting all the while and looking rather uncomfortable for it. Six and Nine were the only two of their party who seemed remotely engaged by the process, staring at the progress of the little lights as they slowly enveloped what was probably a fairly excellent model of the cityscape, tiny streets and circuits and all.

Suddenly, there was a loud klaxon-type noise, causing everyone to jump (and a grinning Jack to take advantage of Jamie's distractedness to win the thumb war) slightly. Two was up in a flash, apparently quite alarmed by the sudden noise. He looked as though he meant to grab something (or someone), but nothing was there, causing him to grasp at the air and overall look rather foolish.

"No!" Tyyra shouted, banging a fit on the table. "We can't have lost one already!"

"Is that what that noise means?" Sam asked, looking at the board more curiously that before. Sure enough, a little light close to where Nine stood had blinked off - a little light that had previously been on.

"We lost the Touhin generator," another rebel leader, Galvin, who was standing next to him said, looking at it carefully. "See if we can't get the video feed up."

Another, younger technician whom the TARDIS crews had been introduced to as Aidyn, quickly hopped to his feet from a nearby chair and over to the mass of computer monitors and keyboards that dominated the right side wall. After a few moments of poking around, he looked up.

"Incoming signal, Sir. From the generator, based on the location coordinates."

"Pull it up!" Galvin barked.

Slowly, one of the screens fizzled to life in a manner that brought to mind something more like that of an old 50s television and not futuristic technology. Consequently, when the diluted and rather grainy picture that fizzled in and out came in, there was little surprise as to the quality.

"...lost...Imperial forces... generator... Repeat, we've... Imperial...inhibit..." came the crackle of a voice as the silhouette of a rebel troop leader came into view on the monitor. Aidyn punched a couple instructions into a nearby keyboard and the sound, if nothing else, came a bit clearer.

"We've lost the Touhin point for the time being. Not the result of an Imperial attack - there's been a technological failure of one of the generator inhibitors."

All across the room, there was an audible sigh of relief. They weren't facing opposition yet. But Tyyra still seemed frustrated.

"If we're already facing technical problems," she fumed, "how are we going to get the project fully online?"

"Miss, we just need you to send someone with the necessary knowledge to get the generator back online and we should be up and functioning once more. The plan hasn't been compromised in any way."

"Yes," she said, "And everyone with the necessary knowledge is otherwise occu... wait!" she said, turning to the Doctors.

"Oh no you don't," said Nine. "We said no, and we meant it."

"But someone needs to," she pleaded rather unbecomingly.

Nine shook his head. "This is the part of the operation where it turns into a battle," he grumbled. "We don't do battles."

"But without fixing that generator, the plan can't go on!"

There was a momentary silence until Six spoke up.

"While I, that is, I mean he... while he may be reluctant, if you truly need a job done, he's not the person to go to anyway. I believe I may be of assistance in this predicament."

"Traitor..." Nine muttered. "Massive pompous dunderhead with an ego the size of..."

Six coughed. "Would that be satisfactory?"

Tyyra grinned widely. "Of course! We'll set you up with an escort immediately. Guards we can spare at the moment.

Six gave Nine a pointed smile, then began to walk towards the doorway.

"Wait!" Nine said quickly.

"Now what?" Six snapped.

"If you're going out there I'm not having you go alone."

"I beg your pardon?"

Nine looked at the ceiling in frustration. "It's a wonder I survived any of you lot..." he said very quietly before looking back to face Six.

"I'm not having you go alone," he said. "I'm coming with you."

Six raised an eyebrow. "I'd suggest you make up your mind on these matters..." he said condescendingly. Nine's response was to storm towards the door, hooking Six's right arm under his own left and dragging them both from the room. He slammed the door behind them.

"Doctor!" Rose shouted, a moment too late. She looked distraught. "Now's he's just gone and left?"

"Don't fret," Eight said absentmindedly, "I'm still here," he added, and pointed to Two. Sam rolled her eyes.

/

After about an hour of hesitant waiting in the control room, now short two Doctors, everyone was relieved when the screen crackled to life again to show a very disgruntled-looking Six and Nine who, while ready to help, were very clearly not speaking to each other.

"Something tells me we didn't get along too well on the trip over.." Two said giving Eight a grin. The older Doctor smiled back, both of them apparently amused by their own dysfunctionality.

"Are you prepared to make the necessary amendments?" Tyyra asked them nervously."

"We'll need a moment to figure out what the problem is, thank you," Nine snapped. "Or would you rather we just try throwing rocks at it?"

"Whatever you decide to do, hurry!" Tyyra muttered.

For a few minutes there was relative silence as the two on-site Doctors attempted to discern the source of the disruption. "Relative" seeing as the two off-site ones were trying to help as well...

"Have you checked the neutronic stabilizers? Balanced?"

"Is there a big button of any kind...?"

"No! Look! You've passed the endotronic circuitry entirely!"

"Go back, go back! That's a hyper-polarized extension you've just passed!"

"No it's not!" Six barked, frustrated. Eight was about to defend his observation when a new noise appeared. A sort of high-pitched whistling. It was coming from the screen, on the Touhin site.

A look of alarm crossed Tyyra's face.

"Everyone onsite _take cover_!" she shouted.

"Why?" Six asked, sounding annoyed. "I'm afraid you're-"

He was cut off by a sudden flash of light on their end of the screen, followed by shaking, loss of audio, and eventually, a cut out of video.

"What was that?" Zoe asked, sounding alarmed.

"Something bad," Tyyra said. "Very very bad. The first of the weaponry."

"You don't mean..." Sam trailed off, looking at the screen in horror. "Are they...?"

"He can't be!" Rose shouted "The Doctor can't be... he... he...!"

Jack tried to be logical. He turned to Two and Eight. "They're you, right? If something happened to them, wouldn't you feel something? Know it somehow?"

Two, despite his concern, looked practically insulted. "I wouldn't my boy, they're both far older than I. I'm perfectly safe so long as nothing happens to One."

"What about him?" Jack asked, pointing to Eight, who looked - quite surprisingly - pale as a sheet. All eyes turned in his direction.

"Given that Six is younger..." Eight said cautiously, keeping his voice very steady (though it sounded as if effort was involved). "I'm afraid my mere existence would cause a paradox."

"But you're still here!" Jack said victoriously.

Two looked at him with concern. "It might take a few seconds, even minutes for the temporal ripples to set in," he said. "I do believe we're all in flux now."

"So what, if they're... he'll just... disappear?" Rose choked out. Sam looked utterly horrified and slipped closer to him, grabbing her Doctor's hand in what was probably meant to be a comforting gesture but turned into one simply to reassure herself he was still there.

"I don't know," Two admitted.

Eight merely looked very, very uncomfortable.

* * *

**A/N: **...I do believe this may be the cruelest cliffhanger I've ever written. I apologize in advance of your complaints. But feel fre to, erm... speculate? 19 days to the 50th.


	17. Chapter 17 - Crazy Enough to Work?

Chapter 17 - Crazy Enough to Work?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who, but there's actually only a really tiny amount of the population that even does, so that's not too surprising.

* * *

"So," Ian said, putting his hands on the table, "here's the plan."

"Plan?" asked Rory. Back at the tent, hey'd only just received news from Amy and Barbara about the Doctors' detainment.

"Plan," said Ian. "We enter the tournament as intended-"

"-we enter the tournament? We're not exactly qualified either!"

"...we'll be better at faking it? I don't have many ideas. Or for that matter many options. Barbara said she knew what we needed to know."

Rory nodded uneasily.

"So," Ian continued, "we enter the tournament as intended. We win the tournament."

"...we win the tournament?" Rory said incredulously.

"We find some way to ensure we win the tournament," Ian said, sounding frustrated, "and we take the purse we win to turn right back around and use as a prize to secure the Doctors' freedom."

"That is the most ridiculous plan I have ever heard," Rory said bluntly.

"I know. Got any better ideas?"

"No, but... no, no I don't."

"Our hands are tied in the first place until we find Susan and her friend," Ian said. "Not to mention I'm not exactly a strategist."

"This is going to be a disaster," Rory moaned.

"This is already a disaster."

"Fair point."

* * *

**A/N: **Don't try to tell me this doesn't sound like a Classic Who plan. (*coughcoughAztecscoughcomeonnowreallycough*) I regret nothing.

Also, sorry for the short chapter, I'm just setting some important plot bits into play and _hopefully _will get you another chapter tonight... or more likely in the wee hours of tomorrow morning. So farewell for what is probably just a brief little bit. And only 18 days to the 50th!


	18. Chapter 18 - Ladies of Time

Chapter 18 - Ladies of Time

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who, but that doesn't make it any less beautiful at times...

* * *

"Well, _this_ has turned out to be a fruitful side trip," Tegan complained, once again ducking to avoid low-hanging ceilings. Apparently in the archives, all roads lead to uncomfortable positions.

"Not as if we were expecting much," Martha said.

"Would've been nice, though."

Ahead of them, Romana continued to forge ahead, paying little mind to their apparent discomfort.

Suddenly, there came a remarkably familiar whirring noise.

_Vworp... vworp... vworp..._

"Is that the TARDIS?" Martha asked incredulously.

"_A_ TARDIS, quite certainly," Romana said, turning towards the source of the noise, "and it does sound rather like a Type 40."

"Where?" Tegan said impatiently.

"It can't be far," Martha said, "seeing as we can hear it."

The three young ladies all swiveled their heads around in random directions, inefficiently but effectively scanning the entire surrounding area.

"There!" Tegan shouted. "There over by that wall, down the other corridor! It's still materializing!"

The other swiveled their heads in the direction she pointed. Sure enough, a large blue phone box was slowly but surely coming into view.

"Now that's odd," said Romana, "seeing as I only know of _one_ Time Lord too daft to fix his chameleon circuit properly, and he's rather unlikely to be flying it right now."

"Well I'm not looking a gift... TARDIS... in the mouth," Martha said. "Isn't that what we're here to do? Figure out what happened to the other TARDISes?" She started for the door. As soon as she pulled the door open, Romana gave a look of recognition.

"Do you know, I think I understand!" she said happily, looking around at the familiarly white interior of her own Doctor's TARDIS.

"Please, enlighten us," Martha said.

"Before we landed - that is, landed at that space station where we ran into all his other incarnations, the Doctor and I were attempting to do a calibration - I say we, I was trying to and he was being frustrating about it. But I believe the calibration process may have activated the Hostile Action Defense System!" Romana glanced at the console. "Now what do you say we make use of it?"

"You mean... take off?" Tegan asked.

"Without the Doctor?" Martha added.

"What, I believe you said something about their being problematic earlier, now you don't want to do some exploring?" Romana said absentmindedly, already fiddling about with the controls.

"Well..." Martha said, "I'd be up for it, obviously - if one of us could _fly_ it."

"Precisely."

"What?"

"Well, I'm happy to oblige."

"You mean you... he taught you how? Martha said, a bit jealously.

"Oh _heavens_ no. That'd be _disastrous _- the Doctor barely knows how to fly a TARDIS himself! No, no, the teachers at the academy, obviously, back on Gallifrey."

Martha's eyes widened. This whole time she'd been assuming the blonde girl that had showed up with the curly-haired Doctor with the ridiculous scarf was... well... human. A bit eccentric, but human. She looked at Tegan, who returned her expression of _"That explains a lot..."_

"Well, are we or aren't we going?" Romana asked. "I'll admit I'm about ready to drag you along whether you like it or not."

Martha, nodded slowly, a terrible thought occurring to her - the Doctor had told her he was the last of his kind. If that was true... by his time, was this girl, this Romana...well, y'know? She gave the her a sad, slow glance, but brought herself together quickly with the same false cheerfulness she used as a shield during family arguments.

"No dragging necessary, let's go!" she said.

"Yes!" Tegan agreed. "No more waiting!"

Romana smiled as she launched the time and space machine into flight. "Excellent."

"Where to, then?" Tegan asked.

"Haven't the faintest, what with the randomizer,"

"You mean it's set to _random_?" Martha said incredulously. "Oh that explains a quite a lot..."

"Oh I hope not by your time," Romana said. "That'd get quite derivative. But onwards all the same!"

* * *

**A/N: **Word of warning, I won't be able to update again until Sunday, but after that we should be back to daily until the 23rd - only 16 days left, now!

Also, it occurs to me that the next chapter will probably clue some people into one of my somewhat bigger surprises, so I'll start the speculation before you've got too much more information - there's another companion about to show up. Any guesses who?


	19. Chapter 19 - Let Him Live

Chapter 19 - Let Him Live

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who, but if I did we'd have seen a lot more of most of the Classic Doctors...

* * *

The first really, truly evident thing, after the darkness and the overall woozy feeling, was the dust. The Sixth Doctor coughed, noting as he did so that there was a distinct rumbling noise, as of his movement dislodging materials. So he was buried?

That would explain the dust. And the darkness. Hadn't it been morning?

In any case, imprecise pondering would get him nowhere. This situation required analysis, not the idle wanderings of the brain. He tended to be rather good at blocking those out, in any case.

There had been an explosion. An explosion that had surely been the source of the rubble he found himself in. The important question, therefore, was how to get out. Carefully, he tested his left arm, pushing against the scraps of stone and metal.

No give, it was trapped against his side.

He next tried his right side, and was only slightly less unsuccesful. There was something very large next to it. But his movement dislodged a slight shower of tiny particles and pebbles from above.

"Aha! Loose on the top then!" he said, or rather, tried to say. In honesty, he got out the "A-" bit before the showering started again and he got the nasty taste of rubble and dust in his mouth and he spit in response, snapping his jaw shut. So he just thought the rest.

Nasty flavor aside, the information was useful. It seemed that he wasn't to deeply buried. In fact... he decided to have a go at it, wriggling his right hand free (ignoring the shower from above), then his arm at the elbow, and ultimately the shoulder. He reached up, feeling to ensure he didn't merely ram his fist into a large chunk of concrete, and sifted through the lighter debris above him. Sure enough, he felt cooler, moving air at his fingertips. He had maybe a foot of material on top of him. Difficult, but far from impossible to extricate oneself from, assuming his legs were free.

A brief moment of testing that proved that, yes, he could indeed mount a strategic escape from this predicament. Probably with relative speed as well, which was fortunate as he felt remaining here much longer would not be in his best interest. He wasn't overly fond of the idea of breathing in particles left by the explosions and, respiratory bypass or not, he was fairly sure it was bound to happen.

Sure enough, after a bit of maneuvering around, he found his head poking above the pile, which he found himself to be on the edge of (explaining the shallow depth). Shaking as many little bits of shattered concrete from his curls as he could, he spat once more, hoping to get the rubble out of his mouth once and for all. He was for the most part, disappointingly unsuccessful, and ended up coughing.

The next order of business, of course, was to find himself. He was a bit dismayed upon emerging to not see the concerningly plain individual that was his ninth self.

Dusting himself off (and noting the several obnoxious tears in his jacket, one of which - on his left arm - had a suspicious orange-red tinge about it that revealed he wasn't so unscathed as the thought), he tried to reconstruct the scene in his head, taking into account where he'd ultimately landed. There wasn't a large radius his other incarnation could have landed in, he just he to be careful in thinking about it.

There. Somewhere about five feet away... sure enough, the corner of a leather jacket was sticking out. But if he'd landed even nearer the top... it probably wasn't a good sign that he hadn't pulled himself up.

Six bounded over, carefully brushing away the obscuring rubble. His uneasy suspicions were confirmed concerningly quickly - he'd been hit by an unfortunately large chunk of the building, or what remained of it, and had a terrible-looking gash on the side of his head. Terrible enough for a Time Lord to lose consciousness (Apparently), which was saying something.

Six frowned, his mind racing. Clearly he had to do something to help himself, but what exactly? They didn't have a means of getting back to the base... unless... he reached into his pocket, pulling out the communicator he'd been handed before heading out. It was miraculously uncrushed, assuring him once more of the infinite protective values of his coat.

He clicked the little blue button on the side, hoping for all the worlds they would answer. There came a sizzling crackle of static, worrying for a second, but followed by broken dialogue from the base

"Incoming communication!" said a technician.

"From the explosion site?" Peri asked. _No Peri_, he thought (but didn't say, deciding his current message was more important), _from Mars_. Honestly, that girl at times...

"Well, I'm still existing..." said his eighth self a bit cryptically. Speaking of certain people at certain times... he was starting to get very worried for the future. He needed to go have a chat with Seven before this was all said and done and tell him to be _extremely_ careful...

"Ahem," he said, speaking into the communicator.

"Doctor?" Peri asked hurriedly.

"Indeed," he said.

"Which one?" came Roses's frantic voice.

"Which one do I sound like, young lady?" he said indignantly. "And don't you sound disappointed," he added.

"Doctor," came Tyyra's voice. "What's the situation?"

"Looks as though everything was decimated, unfortunately" he said, envisioning the look of deflation on her face.

"What about the Doctor?" Rose asked, her voice rising.

"I_ am_ the Doctor!"

"You know what I mean!"

Six cleared his throat, annoyed at what he perceived to be her insolence. "That would be one of my motives for contact. I'm currently incapacitated and apparently in need of medical care, whatever that may entail. I haven't completed an examination yet."

"We'll see what we can do," Tyyra said sadly, sounding a bit confused. "In the meantime, I'd say shut off the communicator while we plan, to conserve battery power. Hate to leave you stranded."

"A wise plan," Six said. "Disconnecting now."

Once off, however, he couldn't help but feel distinctly annoyed. Were they ignoring his input? _One_ of them was onsite, and it wasn't someone in that room...

/

"We have to get him to the TARDIS!" Rose said frantically, knowing that the sentient ship could aid in the Doctor's recovery.

Jamie shook his head sadly. "No, that we cannae do," he said.

"Why not?"

"They took the ship in for investigation," Jack said. "Apparently their trust of us wasn't so unconditional."

"Then we have to get him back here!" Rose said, starting to panic.

"To a human medical team?" Two said. "That is incredibly ill-advised!"

Eight nodded slowly, looking more vacant than was usual. He looked, for all the world, mildly traumatized. But suddenly, he broke into a grin and snapped his fingers. The drastic mood change startled everyone, several of the inhabitants of the room jumping slightly.

"That's it!" he said gleefully. "That's it! That's_ it!_ You're brilliant, me, do tell myself that when I'm... me... though I suppose I am..."

"What are you babbling on about, Doctor?" Sam asked.

"Yes, yes, _doctor_, oh, excellent. Now... you," he said, pointing at Jack. "Time Agent. 51st century. Correct?"

"Well, yes, but I'm not sure how you-"

"Issued a standard vortex manipulator?"

"I'd say it does a bit more than 'standard'," Jack said proudly.

"Good, give it here."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm going to nip out, grab me, and take him somewhere we can get this all sorted properly - and without any mess."

Jack looked hesitant, but he'd also been clearly rattled by the thought that the Doctor - his Doctor, no less - could be in severe danger. He unstrapped the device and hesitantly handed it to Eight.

"Be careful, Doctor, you hear?" Jack said.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll keep him in line," Sam said.

"What?" asked Eight, looking up from attaching the manipulator to his own wrist.

"Well you don't think I'm about to let you head onto a battlefield alone, do you? You'll get yourself killed!"

"Sam, I really don't think it's wise..."

She looked at him stubbornly, telling him he wasn't getting out of this one alone. Secretly, deep down, even though he knew he was endangering her, he was probably somewhat glad.

"Yes, fine," he said. "I can use your help once we get there, actually, I might have to attempt to lie low at first."

Sam raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"If she goes, I go!" Rose said. "The Doctor needs help, and I'm-"

"-Yeah, so we're helping him, haven't you noticed?" Sam hissed.

"Oh, because you're going to be better than me?" Rose said back.

"Oh dear... now, girls..." Two said, glancing between the two of them.

"I'm not staying behind!" Rose said. "Not with the Doctor hurt."

"I'm afraid more passengers will only complicate the process," Eight said a bit patronizingly. "Convenient maybe, but a vortex manipulator's no TARDIS - bit of primitive technology, really."

"Hey, watch it," Jack said.

"I apologize," Eight conceded. "But we really do need to get going, I don't want to let this sit a moment longer."

"Me and you, Doctor?" Sam said, shooting a meaningful look at Rose, who simply glared.

"I suppose so," Eight said, as he finished snapping it into place and extended his arm. "Here, Sam, grab on."

She obliged, and he gave a little salute to the others. "If all goes well, we should pop back here in a minute or so. If not... well, I don't fancy getting lost in the time vortex, but I'd appreciate at least a search party once you get the TARDIS back."

"Doctor!"

Eight moved to activate the device, but before the two of them could vanish in a flash of light, Rose moved her hand like lightning, latching on a well. The three of them vanished in a flash.

"Well_ that_ was unexpected," Jack said flatly, saying what they were all thinking.

"Really?" asked Peri. "Because she seems like a bit of a handful."

"Which one?" Jack quipped.

Peri smirked. "The blonde one."

"Ah, touché," Jack smiled. He turned to Two. "You know, Doctor, you should get a little more creative with your companion choices."

The younger Doctor only sighed. "Oh _dear_..."

/

Having completed his cursory examination of... himself... Six was fidgeting impatiently when the flash of light signalling the other arrival came. He jumped back slightly, surprised to see three figures.

"Oh," Rose complained, head in her hands, "my head!"

"I told you!" Eight fretted, putting a hand to his own curls, "I told you you'd only complicate it, that's too large a load already!"

Sam was nearby, leaning against a particularly large chunk of rubble and looking sick to her stomach. "What do you think you're doing?" she shouted.

"Priorities, priorities," Eight hurried, trying to gather himself together. He slapped his face, as if to gain perspective in the whirling scene his dizziness was providing.

"There, now... where... aha!" he said, looking at Six. "There! Now, where am I?"

Six gestured towards Nine, who lay on the ground, still worryingly still.

"What exactly is your plan?" he asked.

"Marvelous," said Eight. "Simply marvelous. Now, I hate to move an injured man, especially seeing as four is more than a stretch enough on the manipulator and this'll be terribly jerky. And consequently I don't think I can push five, so someone can't come along."

"I vote we leave behind stowaways," Sam hissed.

"I didn't know!" Rose said.

"No, no no, I'll stay behind," Eight said. "The question is just which one. And I'm afraid my experience is a bit important in this case."

Six gave an indignant noise, but nodded. "Very well. Get a move on."

"You'll be alright?" Eight inquired.

"I'll see if I can't find any more survivors," Six said. "Now go!"

Eight nodded, unstrapping the manipulator from his own wrist and attaching it to Nine's, as he was the only one who couldn't grasp it well himself. He looked at the two blonde girls, nodded when he noticed they were both holding on, and activated it.

There was a flash, and Six found himself alone again. He wasn't really a fan of this trend.

"Just _once,_" he said aloud. "It'd be nice if no one else did anything stupid."

* * *

**A/N: **We're coming to the home stretch - only 12 days to the 50th! What is this madness? Consequently I'm looking at a one-update-a-day schedule, and will try my hardest to stick by it.

Thanks again, everyone - as usual, I do love reading your speculation and comments in the reviews, it's quite encouraging and very fun.


	20. Chapter 20 - Ripples

Chapter 20 - Ripples

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who, but I'm a little confused as to why nobody thinks is a good idea aside from myself... oh wait... no I'm not.

* * *

"I don't know if you've noticed," Three said nonchalantly, "but we appear to have lost the remaining companions."

"What?" asked Five, turning around quickly as if expecting Tegan and the others to still be standing there. "You mean they just left?" he asked.

"Affirmative," K-9 chirped.

"Well I suppose that makes some sense, they're terrible about wandering off at times," Five mused. "Tegan is, anyway. And Romana was as well. I don't know about your friend," he said, looking at Ten.

Ten gave a pained nod, not responding. The other Doctors, suddenly alerted to the fact that he was holding his head in his hands and leaning against the wall, looked on in concern.

"Are you quite alright?" asked Three.

"Headache?" asked Five.

"Other ache?" Four added.

Ten opened his eyes, which had been clenched shut. "Timeline's in flux," he murmured. "Something's happened to me. Well, another me."

"Six, Seven, Eight, or Nine?" Five inquired.

"...probably Eight," Ten said.

"Is it imminently threatening?" Three asked, sounding worried.

"I'm not sure," Ten said. "I just feel sort of..." he trailed off, shutting his eyes again.

"Tired?" offered Five.

"Ill?" asked Three.

"Delusional?" asked Four. The others stared at him, including Ten. "What?"

Any response was cut off by a sudden, loud CLANG.

"Nothing that can't be fixed by a little running!" Ten said, jerking straight up. "Shall we?" he turned around, pointing in the direction of the disturbance. The other Doctors look after him skeptically. But another loud noise came quickly, proving too intriguing to allow them to worry for long.

"It's coming from above!" Five commented. "There's something up there!"

"Might I suggest the lift, then?" said Four.

"Where?" asked Three. Four motioned towards a nearby opening that did indeed resemble a service elevator. Ten bounded inside.

"Come on then, gentlemen!" he grinned, banishing any semblance of illness as he poked his head out of the box. "There's room for the four of me."

The others weren't so sure.

/

Far, far away, other Doctors were trying to get _out _of a tight spot. A tent, to be precise.

"The front is guarded," Seven muttered, clearly deep in though, as he wander towards One and Eleven from the front, where he'd poked his head out to survey the situation as was quickly swatted away.

Neither of him was listening.

"I say, my boy, are you alright?" One asked with concern, noting that Eleven looked a bit pale and was staring off into space.

"Eight, Nine, or Ten is in trouble," he muttered, clearly breathing a little harder than usual. He was quite flushed.

"Why am I not surprised?" Seven asked, looking upwards in frustration.

"Are you personally injured?" One inquired, remembering his future self had taken that tumble of sorts earlier...

"No," said Eleven somewhat snappily. "Otherwise I'd have asked for a Band-Aid. Now let's be quiet, my head wants to pound in peace."

The other two raised their eyebrows at each other, but obliged.

* * *

**A/N: **We've reached the point that we can count down the days by Doctors! Matt Smith days until the 50th, everyone!


	21. Chapter 21 - Ace Up the Sleeve

Chapter 21 - Ace Up the Sleeve

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who, but that doesn't make messing with it any less fun.

* * *

"This is_ not_ going to work," Rory hissed, lifting the grille of his formerly closed helmet. They'd thought keeping identities on hidden side might not be a bad idea, but the stuffy interior was killing him. He and Ian were waiting on the sidelines, near the stables, waiting for their team to be announced as having a joust coming up. Neither felt very good about it.

"We can make it work," Ian said, sounding equally uneasy. "We _have_ to make it work."

"Yeah well _I'm_ the one who's going to get skewered by a man on a horse - I'll talk to you about 'working' when we figure out how many limbs I'm missing."

"No, you'll be fine," Ian reassured them both, "you did the best of anyone in practice."

"Of any of _us, _maybe..."

"Didn't your Doctor say something about centurion training?"

"A man on a horse is going to run towards me at more miles per hour than I care to think about brandishing a large stick. Nothing is reassuring right now."

A clear voice rang out amongst the crowd "Sir Rory of Colchester Pond to face Lord Branningham"

Rory turned to Ian. "I can't do this."

"Yes you can," Ian said. "Now come on!"

/

Four more rounds and several hours later, the mood was a surprisingly more optimistic one.

"I think I might actually be able to do this!" Rory said, helmet off, as they took a moment to rest against the stable wall. His cheerful attitude was not unfounded - it had just been announced that his scores qualified him to compete in the finals.

"Of course you can," Amy scoffed, ruffling his hair somewhat patronizingly. "Don't worry, whatever happens, it's all going to work out."

Barbara laughed, clearly attempting to hold it in and failing.

Earlier, after his first round, the two of them had brought up their faith in "Plan B". What exactly "Plan B" entailed neither he nor Ian knew, but apparently the ladies had been busy. And no amount of questioning had given them more information on the subject, no matter how hard they tried.

"So what've you seen of the competition?" Ian asked eagerly. He'd been assisting Rory in his own rounds, and was yet to see the knight they'd been told Rory would face to win the prize.

"Oh, he's a tough one," Barbara said with sincerity.

"Tough as nails," Amy added.

"Good with a lance, even better with a horse."

"The speed'll be the toughest."

"Near explosive at times." The two of them laughed.

"I don't see what's so funny about it," Ian muttered. "Sounds like we still don't have this in the bag."

"Oh but you do, you do!" said Barbara, still laughing, but encouragingly.

There was a loud trumpet call.

"...that's my cue," Rory said. "Let's see about this 'dark knight' then."

They headed towards the pitch.

/

From atop his horse - well, that is to say, the horse he was conveniently borrowing - Rory attempted to survey the competition. They were of a slightly smaller build than he'd expect in a champion jousting knight. Perhaps they made up for it with speed - wasn't that an advantage that often came with lack of bulk?

There was a trumpet call, and he realized he'd missed the trumpet call that signalled the round was to start. His horse jerked slightly, catching him off-guard. He quickly remedied the situation, leaning forward to carefully balance his position and tilting the lance properly.

As they drew closer together, he noticed the other knight lean in as well, intending to catch him right in the chest. He narrowed his eyes in concentration to hit the moving target, seriously limiting his vision through the helmet grille. Where to strike... where to strike...?

Anti-climactically, the answer appeared to be "not". Neither lance met its mark, both instead barely brushing past the opposing armored figures. Rory felt a slight clip on his arm, not enough to concern him even mildly, and then his horse was slowing to a trot as it neared the end of the track.

No hit. They geared up to repeat the process.

This time around, he felt himself sweating - partially from the facial protection's stuffy interior and partially from nerves. If he didn't win... he banished the thought from his mind as they drew closer once more, and was pleased to feel a satisfying _"thud"_ as his own lance made contact with its target. The other knight had been on track to do the same, but his shorter arm-span had meant Rory made the first hit, and his balance was severely disturbed.

Awfully short arm-span, really. This knight was a bit smaller than he'd been expecting to face. In the finals, at least.

The other knight, though clearly rattled by the blow (he laid an arm carefully across his chest, as if checking for injury), had remained upright, and appeared ready for another go. Rory nodded, to signal readiness, then turned his horse around.

_Once more, once more_, he chanted in his head. If he could get in another hit, he'd likely win now. He just needed another clear shot.

As they charged towards each other, things seemed to move in slow motion (as important plot-point related things are wont to do). Rory could feel his heart pound, could hear the blood rushing to his head, could feel the quiver of the lance as he opened up for another shot... and felt it very firmly knocked from his grip as the other knight twisted his lance arbitrarily to the side, acting more as a shield or bat solely for the purpose of deflection.

Unexpected _and_ clever. Dangerous combitation.

Before he could react, the knight brought the lance back around, a sideways motion that unpleasantly swept him across the side.

And onto the ground.

In a daze, his horse still headed in the other direction, Rory was in shock. He'd let everyone down. He'd lost. Now what would they do? He'd ruined everything...

"Rory!" Ian was calling. "Rory are you alright?" He leapt from the sidelines and ran towards him.

The wind still knocked from his lungs, it took Rory a few moments to respond. "...I... I lost!" he said. "Now what are we supposed to do?"

"We'll think of something, I'm sure, but are you alright?"

He nodded.

The other knight was wandering over, also having dismounted (though with a winner's grace), and Rory didn't feel particularly like talking to him. Amy and Barbara, however, rushed to his side, looking as if they needed to speak with him.

"Is it really the time for negotiations?" Rory groaned, sitting upright.

"Actually," said Barbara, a little smugly, "I think you'll be interested to know we've got a deal in the works already."

"Plan B?" Ian asked.

"Yes, yes," Amy turned to the knight. "Why don't you explain your plan?" she asked him.

He nodded, lifting the masked grille to reveal a distinctly familiar and... feminine... face.

"I don't know about you," she said. "But was thinking we might try using the prize money to rescue the Professors."

* * *

**A/N: **We're at David Tennant days until the 50th, everyone!


	22. Chapter 22 - Left My Hearts in SanFran

Chapter 22 - I Left My Hearts in San Francisco...

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who but _wow _did stuff go down today so I actually have something of a real and honest disclaimer today. I knew I had one Eight-heavy plot chapter, given where the story needed to go and Nine's current state, and I thought (when outlining this all _weeks _ago) "Hey! Why not do it on the 14th? That's Paul McGann's birthday!"

I had no way of knowing Moffat would kind of do the same thing, so I apologize in advance for any related issues - I know this chapter was hard for me to write tonight because of my rather emotionally compromised state in all areas regarding the Eighth Doctor, and fear that it may have affected my characterization somewhat. Also, I feel like I'm only increasing the feelings for everyone else which is terrible of me.

...This has been something of a Public Service Announcement

* * *

In a darkened, lonely alleyway, sometime in the middle of the afternoon, something was very much amiss. It started with a swirling, rustling sort of wind that twisted in the cool February air. Blue and black tinges appeared around the circle, a sure sign of abnormal temporal activity. And quite appropriately, it was.

Only seconds later, four figures fell out of the manipulation, which closed nearly instantaneously. There was a flash, and a few forlorn papers littering the side street fluttered slowly to the ground, oblivious to the new arrivals.

"...I think I'm going to be sick," Sam choked out, leaning over the ground looking very pale indeed. Next to her, Rose was equally flushed, lying on her back and clutching her head, which was pounding something terrible.

Eight was already scrabbling up, wincing slightly but otherwise ignoring the time-travel nausea, to check on the state of his older self. He put a hand to the left heart, then the right, and frowned.

"We need to move quickly," he said to the still-recovering girls. Apparently four passengers was significantly worse than three. "Assuming my temporal senses are functioning properly, we've landed close to the correct time. A little _too_ close, maybe. I certainly hope not."

"Why, when are we?" asked Rose.

"San Francisco, California, United States of America, Earth, February 12th, 2001. Little after lunchtime."

"Not San Francisco again," Sam muttered.

"Yes San Francisco again," said Eight. "I need to see a friend about a friend. Well, actually that friend is me. The second one, that is, not the first one..."

"What do we need to do?" Rose asked.

"Immediately? Probably find a phone book."

The two girls looked at him incredulously.

"That's your brilliant plan?" Rose asked. "We shoot someone a call?"

"If by 'someone' you mean an individual who has access to the supplies and facilities we need that won't have to have the most basic tenants of Gallifreyan physiology explained on the spot, then yes."

"So we just need this person's number?"

"Or address or workplace or anything else useful. And then we find her and she helps me help me and all should be well."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Rose said.

"Payphones!" Eight said. "Payphones, payphones, payphones should have a book in there somewhere. Goodness, you've been travelling around in something that resembles one long enough, I think..."

"To do that, we'll need to go out on the street," Sam said.

"Yes, and?"

"Doctor that's a little problematic..."

"How exactly?"

"Possibly the fact that it looks like you're carrying a body," Sam pointed out. Eight looked down into his arms, where he was slightly cradling Nine's figure.

"Right!" he said quickly. "Change of plans! I stay with me - you go find a payphone, look up a name for me. Find a 'Dr. Grace Holloway', call her, hope she picks up, and repeat what I say..."

As Eight delegated his instructions to the girls, Sam's mind began to wander. What was the Doctor getting into this time?"

/

"Payphone!" Rose shouted, pointing to one not far from where they stood, have exited the alleyway. "I saw it first, I'm making the call!"

"If we even find this 'Grace' lady..." Sam said cynically, Honestly, she didn't think this particular plot of the Doctor's was going to hold up. Which was surprisingly not his style."

They reached the little kiosk, and Rose pulled out the book on the chain. "What was that last name again?" she asked Sam.

"'Holloway' I think. I don't see why the Doctor doesn't just find her himself, he's the one who knows her..."

"Sounded like he was worried she might not be happy to see him," Rose said, flipping to the "H" section.

"Oh this is going to go splendidly," Sam groaned.

"I wonder why?" Rose trailed off.

"Because he doesn't know how to interact with human beings?" Sam offered. Honestly, it wasn't that hard to imagine the Doctor accidentally doing something terribly insulting and dashing off without a care. She only hoped the situation wasn't too awkward. "Really, isn't it obvious. I'm sure she's someone he used to travel with or something that didn't end so well."

Rose looked up, an unreadable look on her face. "He wouldn't just leave someone behind like that, would he?"

"I can see it," Sam said.

"Well you know a different Doctor than I do."

"Look," Sam said, trying only a little bit not to come off as condescending, "you need to stop idolizing him so much. He's got problems like the rest of us. No - I said that wrong. He's got problems nothing like the rest of us. That's what makes it so dangerous."

"Well, obviously. That's why he needs my help!"

Sam whistled, "Your help? Oh, I see, because Miss Perfect is going to dash in and save the day, with the perfect Doctor at her side doing perfect things. Look at that, it's a miracle!"

"i didn't mean it like that," Rose said angrily. "I just meant that's why I help him."

Sam looked as if she was about to say something, then reconsidered. She sighed. "He sure needs it. But you know what? You're not going to be there to help him forever. That's what we're looking at here."

"Says who?" Rose said nervously. "I'm not planning on leaving."

"I feel more like it happens when you're making other plans," Sam said, pointing to a phone number in the book between them. Dr. Holloway, Grace. Only one in the book. "Why don't you try asking her about it?"

Rose frowned, then started typing in the number. "I think I will. Once we get this whole mess sorted out. Will that make you happy?"

"Unlikely," said Sam as the other girl hit the call button.

There was an agonizing wait of a few moments that seemed an eternity - would they get an answer? Would it even be the person they were looking for? But suddenly Rose spoke up, clearly having made contact with someone on the other end.

"Hello? Yes. Is this Dr. Holloway?"

"Yes, my name is Rose Tyler."

"No, I don't think so. I'm actually making this call for someone else, he wants to get ahold of you."

"No!"

"No, I'm sorry. Erm... would the name John Smith mean anything to you?"

"Yes I know it's not exactly noteworthy, don't get so defensive, hang on..." Rose put a hand over the mouthpiece, looking at Sam. "What was that other alias?" she mouthed.

Sam shrugged, then recalled a vague bit of their instructions. "Bowman" she mouthed back, as rose put the receiver to her mouth once more.

"How about a Dr. Bowman? From London?"

"I promise, we're not pulling anything! He said you might be like this and to tell you that he's sorry about running off with the shoes, whatever that means."

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Rose Tyler, that's right."

"He says he needs your help. The Doctor's in a bad way right now. Well..." she looked at Sam, silently wondering if she should mention that she was referring to two different Doctors. Sam shook her head, knowing that could get confusing. They just needed to get this Grace woman to meet them.

"Yeah," Rose continued, "the Doctor's in a bad way."

"Actually, d'you think you could come out here?"

"Yeah, hang on, let me check..."

As Rose verified the street address, Sam frowned slightly. She didn't know what to expect from this at all. As much as she disliked the idea, she'd had the most terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach that traveling with the Doctor didn't end well. It was probably worth it, but she just couldn't see it play out in her favor. Was she about to get some questions answered?

On the phone, Rose was nodding - even though, on the other sire, Dr. Holloway couldn't exactly see her.

"Yes, we'll wait where you can see us. Thanks."

She disconnected.

"I think that went well," she said.

"She's coming?" Sam asked.

"She's coming," Rose confirmed.

"Better tell the Doctor, then."

"After you."

Their clipped conversation halted as they meandered back over to the alleyway where the Doctors were hidden. Eight sat, leaned against a wall, absentmindedly staring off into space. Sam hated to interrupt him, it looked as if he was thinking deeply about something.

"Doctor?" she asked carefully.

"Yes Sam?" he said, grinning as he broke out of his thoughts.

"She says she's coming."

The look on his face was one of excitement. "Excellent!" I knew Grace'd pull through. Oh, yes, this is perfect!"

"She said she'd be a little while," Rose added, not to be left out. "Not a problem, right?"

"Hopefully not," Eight said. "I seem to be relatively stable, for now."

/

Grace arrived about a half an hour of fairly awkward silence later, the only real conversation having consisted of a haphazard dozen or so attempts on Eight's part to get the two girls to participate (mostly involving his mentioning something that really wasn't conversational material, attempting to talk about it, and some subsequent distraction of his own creation that kept him from following the subject further). The crunching noise of a car parking was evident, and Rose leapt up.

"I've got to show her where we are," she said. "Back in a moment."

But Eight had beat her to it, hopping up himself and already dashing towards the curb.

"Grace!" he shouted. "Grace!"

The woman extricating herself from the car looked terribly confused, her expression not helped when he flung his arms around her, practically bouncing up and down.

"Doctor!" she said, wriggling slightly to escape and attempt to look him over. "They told me you were hurt!"

"Oh, I am," Eight said, concernedly, drawing back slightly. "Bit concerning."

"How?" she said, looking him up and down. "You look fine!"

"No no no no... different me, different... oh, I should've told them to explain. By the way, Grace, Sam and Rose. Rose, Sam, this is Grace."

"Hello," said Sam.

"Dr. Holloway," Rose nodded.

Grace raised an eyebrow at him. "Not what it looks like?"

"No, not... what do you mean?"

"Never mind, Doctor," she laughed. "What's this about you in trouble then?"

"Grace, do you remember the other me, the me you first met?"

Grace got a guilty look on her face. "Doctor, I... yes, I do."

"Well I've got another me here - not the same one, another one, and we need your help."

"...how many of you are there?" she muttered.

"More than enough," said Sam.

"I can tell."

"Please, Grace? Please?" Eight pleaded.

"Alright, alright, you don't have to beg me, I was going to say yes anyway!" she laughed. Eight hugged her again, sounding gleeful.

"Excellent! I'll go see about getting me!" he said, dashing back into the alleyway.

Grace just laughed.

Rose was looking on with something of a glare. "He just does that?" she asked.

"What, the hugging?" Sam asked. "Oh yeah, all the time."

"And kissing," said Grace absentmindedly.

Rose looked at the two of them, indignant. "Never!"

"Different Doctor, different rules," Sam said condescendingly. "Jealous?" She wasn't about to admit that she was just as frustrated by it as Rose was - it was nice to see someone on the other end of it for once.

Rose huffed slightly, but any comment was cut off by Eight's return. He was carrying his older self bridal-style, seeming not to struggle despite the other Doctor's larger size.

"Ready to go?" he asked cheerfully, and Sam moved to open the door.

Grace looked at him in surprise. "This is you, Doctor?"

"The next me, or so I'm told!"

Grace gave the two of them a long look, taking in familiar curls and velvet and smiles and contrasting them to the black and leather. Sure, the other Doctor she'd met had been different but... oh God, it had occurred to her that the only way there could be a "next" Doctor would be if something similar happened to hers. She wanted to say something, wanted to see if there was a good reassurance to that thought.

"Yeah, I'm ready," she said instead. "I only hope it doesn't look too much like we're carrying a body. Doctor," she continued. "You sure touching him doesn't cause a paradox or something, if he's really you?"

She hoped this logic could prove wrong the fact that she was seeing evidence of his death before her.

"Nope!"

"No he's not you?"

"No, I'm not sure about the paradox bit - but let's not worry about that for now. I call shotgun!"

Grace just shook her head. Frustratingly scattered as ever - she hadn't know what to expect when she got a call asking about the Doctor. Wondered if she wasn't getting dragged into another adventure of sorts (...which sounded surprisingly appealing, actually). Looked as if it's be very much the same, at this rate.

* * *

**A/N: **May all of you with your Eight feels not have your emotions further injured by the events of this chapter. I tries my best. Funny how that timing happened - I'm actually a bit embarrassed. In any case - Christopher Eccleston (9) days to the 50th, everyone! And happy birthday, Paul McGann!


	23. Chapter 23 - The Enemy Revealed

Chapter 23 - The Enemy Revealed

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who, but it's just too amazing not to come up with my own stories.

* * *

Four of the same Time Lord exiting a crowded elevator is never a dignified act, but the Doctors didn't win themself any points in the gracefulness department as they attempted it. Five stumbled, tripping over K-9 and falling to the ground. Ten managed to catch him in time, before he landed, and pulled himself up.

"Alright?" he asked.

"Fine, thanks," Five responded, dusting himself off. "You?"

Ten didn't respond, causing the others to exchange nervous glances once more. Should they be concerned?

But just as before, they were distracted by a sudden loud clanging noise, this time down the hall from where they stood.

"Well, we're on the correct floor," Three said. Four was already dashing off in the direction the noise had come from, the others not far behind. Quickly, however, the Doctors all skidded to a stop. Not far from where they stood was a hulking sea-creature. It had a long, sinewy neck attached to its body of mottled grey. Massive, angry, and thrashing - but supported by sturdy but seemingly out-of-place slippers - it looked awkwardly dangerous.

"I say!" muttered Three. "Looks like we've found our culprit!"

"Nonsense," said Four. "Just look at it, that can't have gotten in here on its own. Something bigger is behind all this."

"Well naturally," sighed Three. "I was merely referring to the control room damage."

"Perhaps you should specify," Four said smugly.

"Perhaps you should stop being an insufferable twat," Three retorted.

"...if I could stop arguing for a moment," began Five.

"I might have realized we've been noticed!" Ten finished. Indeed, the creature was staring right at them, it's curiosity piqued by their bickering.

"No sudden movements," said Five. "Perhaps we just back away slowly and it'll leave us alone?"

The creature roared at them, baring previously-hidden massive fangs.

"Unlikely," said Four.

"Change of plans, what say we distract it?" said Three. The other Doctors nodded in unison.

"Oi!" Ten shouted, dashing to one side, flailing his arms in the air. "You, over here!"

"Reckless but effective, I suppose," Three said, rolling his eyes as the beast bore down on his former self. "I was thinking something with slightly more class..."

"Doctor?" came a muffled question from the other side of the lab door the monster had been previously bearing down on. "Doctor is that you?"

"Yes it is. Sarah Jane?" Three, Four, and Five said simultaneously. Ten was too busy running across the hall as fast as his hi-tops could carry him, the creature growling behind him.

"Doctor! Get us out!" she said. "Do you have your sonic?"

"Yes!" said Three and Four both. Five gave a sad little "No..." and the others looked towards him in concern.

"Whatever happens to it?" asked Three.

"Well-"

"I'd really appreciate if we could cut the chat!" said said from the ceiling. He'd apparently clambered up one of the walls, the sleek siding having been ripped away by the beast's teeth to reveal a sort of stair-step lattice.

"Easy for you to say," said Four, "You already know!"

"No, no, he's got a point," said Three. "Come on, let's get this open."

"But won't the monster just get us outside then?" asked Adric from the other side of the door.

"No, we'll make for the archives," said Five.

"Not more running!" came Nyssa's voice.

"Nonsense," said Three, "If we can all jam into the lift..."

"Lift?" asked Sarah Jane. "There was a lift all this time? Why didn't we run there?"

"I didn't know there was one!" came Michelle's concerned plea. "Honestly!"

"Interesting..." muttered Four.

"HURRY!" shouted Ten, whose grip was starting to slip.

With that, the door swung open, the combined efforts of two sonic having been, as a whole, rather successful. The four inside tumbled out in a bit of a mess, pulling themselves up quickly as soon as they hit the ground.

"Run!" shouted Five, pointing towards the still-open elevator hatch. Ten dropped down from the ceiling, hitting the ground.

"Always land on your feet!" he said cheerfully, following the others at a sprint. His long legs meant that he overtook Adric quickly, and he reached an arm out to practically drag the boy behind him.

After a bit of hasty squashing, the door slammed shut, the monster's jaws only inches from the closing panels. Doctors and companions and robot dogs and interns alike were pressed up against each other at awkward angles, having jammed themselves in with haste as the primary motive.

"I hope we don't trigger some weight-based limit," Five said concernedly, squished behind Nyssa.

"Perhaps if that scarf wasn't adding a good 10 pounds on its own..." Three muttered, worming his way around Ten to reach the "down" button.

"I beg your pardon," huffed Four. Fortunately they didn't seem to have done anything of the sort, as they descended back to the archive level rather quickly. As soon as the doors popped open, they all accidentally landed in a pile on top of each other in their attempts to exit (with the exception of K-9, who pulled out from the lift with as much of an air of smugness as a robot dog could possess).

"Adric, move your leg," Nyssa sighed, pulling herself out.

"Are you alright, Sarah?" Three asked, helping her up.

"Ten, get off me!" Five muttered. The older Doctor just grinned, until he was pushed out of the way.

"Onwards, then?" Four inquired.

"Onwards," Three agreed. "We still haven't found the source of the disturbance."

"Where even are we?" Michelle asked as they began walking.

"The archives, apparently," said Ten. "Interesting that you didn't know they were here..."

"I knew about the archives," she answered. "Just not how to get there."

"Curiouser and curiouser," Three smiled. "I do believe we weren't far from our destination, however."

"Not at all," said Five "I think we've found it."

Sure enough, to their right, a door awaited labelled "3012"

"Well, not very hidden..." Sarah Jane said.

"I expect they didn't assume anyone would make it this far," Ten said. "Shall we?"

Inside, there were few clues. It was dark and a bit foreboding, meaning that they couldn't see anything. Until a large overhead light came on. Suddenly, everyone was blinded by the brightness. Out of nowhere, a voice began to speak.

"Nice to see you caught up again," he said.

"Oh dear," said Five. "Mike. We... rather forgot about you, I'm afraid."

"No, no it's not a problem," Mike said. "I've only had a moment to talk to the people in charge - that's who you wanted to see, isn't it?"

"Well yes, I suppose so," Three said. "Do you mean to say they're down here? I assumed-"

"-of course," Mike continued, "When I say people, it's only in the loosest of terms."

"Mike," Ten said, with a warning in his voice.

"Meet the masterminds behind this entire operation, Doctors!" Mike said, his voice rising to a frightening fever pitch.

There was an ominous mechanical wheeling noise from behind him. A terrifyingly familiar foe rolled the light, followed by another, and another, and another...

"YOU ARE THE DOC-TORS," the first barked electronically. "YOU MUST BE EXTERMINATED."

* * *

**A/N: **It's Sunday and we're on the home stretch! Colin Baker days to go! (I'm mortified about missing McGann and McCoy - surprise baby-sitting arrangement and a couple other unforseen complications) Consequently, it's time for the big reveal! You've been wondering from the beginning who's behind all this, and this is where the answers start. I wanted to get some more teams rolling, but I needed a chapter up today. Hopefully tomorrow'll just be a dump of villainy, which should be exciting and a nice little kickoff to the finale week.

You're a lovely readership, though I'll say I hope my sudden reveal might trigger a bit more speculation/comments in the review section? Either way, it's lovely traveling with you. Hope to see you very, very soon!


	24. Chapter 24 - Amazing Grace

Chapter 24 - Amazing Grace

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who, but jelly babies sound really delicious right now...

* * *

Sam sat awkwardly on the sofa in Grace's living room. Apparently whatever the Doctor needed to help... the Doctor... wasn't so urgent as to break into the hospital where Grace worked, they'd just needed a place to go and someone to trust. Next to her, Rose was practically shaking with the hyperactivity derived from nervousness.

"You okay?" she finally asked her, still not sure if the appropriate response was to be annoyed or somewhat sympathetic.

"Fine," Rose said tersely.

"...good."

There was another awkward silence.

"Oh, I wish I hadn't come!" Rose burst out. "He's probably gonna pop right back to where we were as soon as he's better, and it'd be better than all this waiting!"

"Hm. Wasn't that the plan? You not coming, that is?" Sam asked, annoyedly.

"Why you-!" Rose was practically speechless. She rotated to face Sam. "Could you be less insensitive for even one second?"

"Not sure if I can," said Sam. She wish Rose'd just realize this was a pointless argument to be having. She didn't want to sound so flippant persay, but it was her best method of implying she didn't want to further the topic.

Rose didn't seem to be thinking along those lines. And honestly, who could blame her? Sam knew she'd never been great at dealing with girls her own age. That was one reason she'd liked tagging along with the Doctor in the first place...

"You," Rose said. "Are the most self-centered..._ oh!_ I can't _believe_ the Doctor puts up with you! Even if he's a different Doctor!"

"Hey, watch it!" said Sam. "I could say the same."

Before they could launch into further deconstruction of their opposing characters (because, after all, it was really only the contrast that was the problem - the trickiest arguments are the one's where no one's really wrong...), the door to the room swung open. They were too wrapped up in their scuffle to notice Grace coming through, pulling off latex gloves and sighing. She stopped at the sight of the younger ladies, looking as if they were about to jump at each others' throats.

"Girls," she said, "Something wrong?"

Rose whirled to look at her. "Is the Doctor okay?"

Grace shrugged. "He shooed me from the room to take a look at... himself. I was out of my depth, in any case. I think a little more pressing is the fact that I'm looking at a murder in the making in the living room. Anyone going to explain?"

The two blondes looked at each other a little sheepishly, but still with animosity. Grace raised an eyebrow.

"I'll start asking the questions if I don't get answers."

Neither wanted to start the conversation, but eventually Rose took a deep breath and dove into it. "I just think... _certain people_... in the room should care a little more that someone's.. the _Doctor's_... life is in danger!"

"I care as much as you!" Sam said. "I just don't see any reason to act irrationally about it!"

"I'm not acting irrationally!" Rose shouted back.

"What do you call being an emotional mess then?" Sam retorted.

"_Caring_," Rose insisted. "Unlike you, apparently. I've seen the Doctor hurt before, and guess what? My_ actually caring_ never hurt anything."

"Oh, you've seen him hurt. You've seen him _hurt_? I don't think you've seen anything," Sam scoffed, pushing back painful images.

"Try me!"

"Last time we were here, here meaning San Francisco," Sam hissed. "He was very nearly torn apart by a gang of vampires. Bleeding out all over the floor, almost _died._ It was one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen," she continued, choking on the words. Just remembering her horror at the moment was enough to make her heart race. She wondered if the tears in the corners of her eyes were imagined or if she was really getting so worked up about this.

"So tell me," she continued, "about his getting hurt."

Rose and Grace both stared at her in something close to horror themselves.

"...I'm sorry," Rose whispered, putting a hand on Sam's shoulder. "I guess I didn't think..."

Sam sighed, letting the gravity of the situation sink in, and shook her head. "I didn't think either," she said. "I'm so sorry... that's... that's what you've got going on right now and I didn't even care. I couldn't see past how your Doctor'd been acting, but... he's still the Doctor. And you care as much as I do."

She wondered if the flippant attitude of Rose's Doctor was so different from her own - she could only imagine the things _he'd _feel he needed to hide.

"Well I'm sorry for thinking you didn't care about any of 'em," Rose said.

"I'm sorrier," Sam said, giving a bit of a laugh to push back the crying that had almost sneaked out.

"Not on my watch, I swear, I'm the sorriest," Rose laughed.

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are _not_."

Grace just shook her head. "I was going to make coffee. Sound good to anyone else?"

"Amazing," said Sam, cracking a grin.

And suddenly, the strangeness of the situation struck them all.

"I've got a long-lost alien acquaintance performing a medical procedure on a future incarnation of himself in my guest bedroom and I'm making _coffee_," Grace said, a look between shock and amusement crossing her features.

"All in a day's work with the Doctor, Dr. Holloway," Rose smiled.

"Please girls, call me Grace. I'll see if I can't find something to eat, too."

/

Eight leaned over the puzzlingly still-unconscious Nine, giving a slight "Hmmm..." noise. "I should be awake now."

Nine didn't respond.

"You're a very stubborn me, you know that?" Eight sighed. "I suppose I'm you next... wonder how that'll play out..."

No movement..

"Your companions seem nice enough, but I can't say I agree with your clothing choices. Perhaps the jacket'll grow on me. Have you ever considered blue?"

Silence.

"You know, talking is supposed to stimulate the sense but I'd go so far as to say I'm boring you..."

And ironically enough, with that, Nine's eyes popped open.

"Where... what? Who?" he asked, trying to sit up but falling back down, partially aided by Eight who gave him a gentle push.

"Well now you're stealing all my lines!" he said. "Feeling better?"

"I've got a splitting headache," he moaned, putting a hand to his head. "But something tells me I should be grateful it's just that."

"Indeed, you sound remarkably better," Eight said, grinning. "I'm impressed."

Nine began to sit up, more slowly this time.

"Not so fast," Eight said carefully. "Just need to rest a bit. Rose is in the other room, I'm sure you'll get no end of questions from everyone once you head out so let's just stay here and chat for a moment." He hopped up on the bed to sit next to his future incarnation, smiling.

Nine rolled his eyes. "Chat."

"Yes, chat."

"Where even is 'here'?"

"Grace's house, San Francisco."

"San Francisco?!"

"It's a long story."

"Oh, yes," Nine complained. "_Always_ with you, the 'long stories'. And the hare-brained plans and the..."

"You know," Eight said. "I don't really appreciate that."

"What?"

"Your constant criticism. I _have_ picked up on it, you know."

"Can't disagree with myself now?" Nine muttered.

"It's a bit more than that," Eight said quietly.

"And how's that?" Nine returned, sounding only annoyed.

"You've been playing on my insecurities this whole time!" Eight said sadly. "Not as if it's hard for you to know them, having been me. Seems like abuse of power in my opinion. Is this what I become?"

Nine sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "The memory incident?"

Eight nodded, his features still very much portraying his concerned distaste with his future self.

"When did you figure it out?" Nine asked carefully.

"Before I even reached the library - I may not seem the most intelligent of our selves at times, considering it's not always... there," Eight said, tapping his curls, "but I can identify a flimsy story when I hear one. I don't believe my fifth self ever even _went_ to Italy - and that, at the least, could be proven."

Nine shook his head. "I just wanted you to leave. I didn't have any other motivation. I'm..." he choked on the sentence, memories welling up very quickly,

_...I should be the one getting an apology. I've been through more because of his actions than he ever will because of mine. If he could've just... I should..._

"I'm sorry," he said instead.

Eight nodded, swinging his legs slightly and looking downwards. "Why?" he asked, after some thought.

"Why am I sorry?" Nine asked, a little surprised. He didn't think his self-confidence in this regeneration had been so blatantly wounded...

"Why did you want me to leave?"

Nine paused. "Because you represent the past. We both know the past hurts."

"So do Two and Six, I didn't see them driven from the room..."

"It's something that's_ going_ to happen!" Nine shouted. "I can't tell you! Because otherwise you'll mess everything up... no, you've already messed everything up... something that otherwise I think we'll only see it get worse."

Eight looked hurt at the bluntness of this statement, and Nine felt himself wishing he could change his word choice.

"No, that's not exactly what I... I didn't mean..."

"You think I'm inferior," Eight said stiffly. "I suppose I've never felt as impressive as some of the others... certainly botched up my regeneration into... well, _me_ me... clearly you find my intelligence lacking..."

"It's different," Nine pleaded. "Different with us two."

"Different than Two and Three? Than what Six thinks of Five? I never get along with my previous mes, how is this different?"

"I can't tell you that."

"...naturally."

They sat in silence.

"I must become something truly terrible," Eight said quietly, looking downwards and forlornly kicking one leg back and forth.

Nine struggled with how to respond. He sighed, letting loose some emotions that had been dormant for a long, long time.

"No," he said ultimately, causing his younger self to look up at him suddenly. "No, you become something better... something... brave."

"And that's a problem?"

"It is when the mes after you are cowards."

"Oh but you're not!" Eight said hurriedly.

"I _am_," Nine said, his voice rising to a fever pitch.

Eight looked worried. "No no no _no_, I can't have me thinking that."

"I can't face what I did!" he said.

"And I can?"

"You haven't _done_ it yet!" Nine shouted. "That's what this all is, don't you see? It's not anger at you it's _envy_. Envy that you haven't had to do what you will yet, envy that you're going to be brave enough to do it in the first place... and that I'm _not_."

Eight sat in stunned silence. He was fairly sure this whole conversation was breaking dozens of laws of time - he'd likely already learned far too much about the future. But he felt as though he needed to do something. Something that wouldn't restart the conversation, and yet would help resolve it.

It was the first thing he thought of.

"What are you doing!?" Nine asked as his younger self wrapped his arms around him in a hug.

"Shhhh..." said Eight, leaning over slightly so as to fit his arms around Nine entirely.

"You realize this is gonna be real awkward for you when you're me?"

_"Shhhh..."_

* * *

**A/N: **I don't typically talk to you too much about my writing process (as it's mostly embarrassing and involves unhealthy amounts of nutella), but I did want to mention one thing. While writing the second scene, with the Doctors, the song "Who I am Hates Who I've Been" came up on my Spotify favorites shuffle list and... it was actually a bit difficult. I'd advise anyone interested in my emotional reaction to look up the lyrics, it was a very interesting moment of insight, and entirely coincidental.

In any case, thanks for the positive feedback on the last chapter! Peter Davison days until the 50th now! :D


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